On a day when there were birdies aplenty, Christiaan Bezuidenhout had a bogey-free opening three-under-par 69 in the first round of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship on the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Bezuidenhout started his round on the 10^th hole with a run of six successive pars before making his first birdie of the day on the par-five 16^th. There were two more birdies, on two and six, and he ended the first round in a share of 22^nd.

He was four strokes off the lead which was shared by Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark. They had a one-stroke edge over Canadian Nick Taylor and Matt Fitzpatrick, with seven players on five-under in a share of sixth, including world number one Scottie Scheffler. Eight more players, including Nedbank Golf Challenge champion Max Homa, were one stroke ahead of Bezuidenhout on four-under in a share of 13^th.

Erik van Rooyen got off to a fast start, also from the 10^th, with four birdies in his first five holes. But he made bogey on 15 and double on 18, before going through his homeward nine with one birdie and one bogey. His double came when, like many other players on the day, he played his tee shot too tight to the left-hand side of the fairway and ended up in the water.

Garrick Higgo opened with a one-over-par 73 to be in a share of 88^th.

McIlroy shot 65 despite recent struggles with his swing and two tee shots that ended up in the water. Those tee shots cost him, but he made up for it by excelling in the one area of the game that days earlier he considered a weakness. He hit 15 greens in the first round, gaining more than three strokes with his approach play.

Schauffele played bogey-free with two nervous moments toward the end of his round, one leading to birdie and another for an unlikely par save. Clark, already a winner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this year, came on strong with three late birdies.

Calm weather by Florida standards in March and a soft Stadium Course made the opening round perhaps as easy as it will get all week. There also was a front pin on the island-green 17^th, where Ryan Fox made a hole-in-one. It was third straight year at The Players that someone made an ace on the fabled hole.

“It’s such an iconic hole, and it’s an intimidating shot,” Fox said. “I don’t care who you are. You get up there, most of the crowd probably either wants you to make a one or hit it in the water, so I’m glad to be on the right side of it in that respect.”