Golf:After hurtling through the field at breakneck speeds during the final round at Quail Hollow last weekend, Rory McIlroy's opening gambit at the Players Championship was a touch more pedestrian. The new darling of the US PGA Tour was one-over-par after a round of 73, seven adrift of the early pace-setters JB Holmes and Australian Robert Allenby.
By no means out of contention at this stage - the 21-year-old claimed the title in Charlotte after just making the cut on the mark - McIlroy might have been hoping for better on an ideal day for shooting low numbers at Sawgrass.
On a course renowned as one of the toughest examinations on the pro circuit, well over half the field finished level par or better with receptive greens softened by recent heavy rainfall offering plenty of opportunities.
McIlroy got an early birdie on the card at the 11th (his second), but gave that back at the 18th when he drove into water. Another birdie arrived at the second but that was followed by a dropped shot at the next, before he bogeyed the eighth.
McIlroy, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Tuesday, said: "I found it quite tough to get anything going and struggled to read these Bermuda greens.
"There was definitely a different atmosphere to Sunday. I hit it OK apart from a terrible shot on the eighth and it's so bunched that a good start tomorrow can get me into the top 20."
Pádraig Harrington also carded a 73 as he struggled to take full advantage of the benign conditions, the Dubliner missing more than his fair share of birdie chances.
Graeme McDowell finished level par after a patchy round. He birdied the 10th and 13th to start brightly but found the lake at the 16th for a double-bogey seven and dropped another on the 18th.
He recovered to pick up two shots on the way in but gave one back on the eighth.
Tiger Woods started with a drive into trees and ended with another into a lake, but in between dug so deep that he was able to sign for an opening two-under-par 70 at The Players Championship in Florida.
Six days after his dreadful 79 at Quail Hollow, Woods matched the score of Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who could take his world number one spot on Sunday, but they were four behind Allenby and JB Holmes.
They were also three behind Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, both impressive as they began their bids to make it three European victories in a row at the £6.2million event, golf's richest, following the successes of Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia.
There had been criticism of Woods' swing following his missed cut - by a massive eight strokes - last week, but he said after his three-birdie, one-bogey round: "People need to be realistic.
"I'd had only six competitive rounds in seven months. It takes time. It takes tournaments. I don't feel too bad about it."
While Donald - runner-up in 2005 - was all smiles, compatriot Greg Owen was all seething fury after becoming yet another victim of one of the most famous holes in the sport.
A quadruple bogey seven on the tiny 137-yard 17th left the Mansfield player ready to explode after he handed in a one over 73.
"I'm not saying a word about the 17th - I'm fuming at the moment," said Owen when asked by a US Tour official to speak to reporters. "Forget the 17th please. This is The Players Championship, I've not had a great year, I was playing nicely and I go and do that."
Owen's nine-iron tee shot to the near island green failed to carry the water and then from the drop zone his next attempt was nowhere near making it over.
"I hit two bad shots. There's no wind, the greens are soft, it's easy - what more do you need to know?"
Woods, inevitably, had far more eyes on him when he tried to hit back from the worst performance of his entire career.
His first shot did not bode well, a three-wood that flew into the left-hand trees. But escaping with a par was a taste of things to come.
A poor approach to the long second did not cost him a shot either and nor did a shocking 190-yard three-wood that popped up in the air off the seventh tee.
With the same club he produced a wonderful shot into the heart of the green on the par five ninth - this time it carried 270 yards - and he two-putted for his first birdie in 19 competitive holes.
Another came on the 558-yard 11th thanks to a chip to six feet, but there was still the dangerous finish to come. Including, of course, Owen's nightmare hole.
Donald had four birdies in five holes around the turn and after bogeying the 15th hit a superb approach to six feet on the formidable 462-yard last and made the birdie putt.
"You don't often get to see this course with hardly any wind and soft greens and it was nice to take advantage," he said. "At the 18th you'd take four pars every time."
Mickelson three-putted it for bogey, but happily accepted his 70 given how poorly he felt he played.
"I didn't have it today, but I can still get right back into the tournament," said the left-hander.
Westwood did not make a mistake until hitting his approach to the long 16th into the water at virtually the same moment Woods found the lake off the final tee.
It cost the European number one and world number four a bogey six, but his second shot to within five feet on the 462-yard last made up for it.
Big-hitting Holmes did not drop a shot in his round, but Allenby then reached seven under after 13 holes before making a lone bogey at the difficult short eighth.
Paul Casey had a seven on the long ninth - three of them were bunker shots - and also returned a 73, while Ross Fisher and defending champion Stenson produced 69s.
Italian Francesco Molinari, who unlike his brother Edoardo opted for the event rather than his home Open, needed to birdie the long ninth to be joint leader, but instead ran into bunker trouble and with a bogey six dropped to 68.