Rory McIlroy Comes Apart On Closing Stretch To Fall Back At Genesis Invitational

Rory McIlroy endured a nightmare finish to his opening round at the Genesis Invitational to leave him battling to make the weekend at Riviera.

The four-time Major champion has cut a quiet figure this week where he's gone under the radar with no pre-tournament press conference amid Tiger Woods' return to the sport capturing the majority of the headlines.

McIlroy went out in the final group on Thursday and was off to a very solid start at three-under-par after 10 bogey-free holes.

However, he dropped a shot at the par 4 12th hole and then went on to play his last four holes in five-over-par to sign for a 74 (+3).

He double bogeyed the difficult 482 yard par 4 15th and then made yet another six at the very next hole - the par 3 16th. His tee shot found the greenside bunker and he proceeded to four-putt to walk away with a triple, going from two-under to three-over within the space of two holes.

A birdie at the par 5 17th followed but that was erased on the 18th where he dropped a shot after missing the green and failing to convert his 13-footer for par.

He's T64th after one round in the 70-man tournament, only ahead of four players. 

Despite ranking 2nd in SG: Off the tee, he was dead-last in SG: Around the green and 67th in Putting as well as T64th for Total strokes gained on Thursday.

The Genesis Invitational cut will see the top-50 and ties head through to the weekend as well as those within 10-strokes of the lead.

McIlroy is ten behind leader Patrick Cantlay as things stand and two strokes outside of the top-50, so there's plenty of work to be done on Friday to progress.

Tiger Woods is also over-par after one round, but he's two ahead of McIlroy at +1 despite a shank on the 18th hole, which led to a closing bogey.

The Genesis Invitational is one of just three Signature Events on the PGA Tour with a cut. Of the eight big money tournaments, only the Genesis, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial Tournament have kept their cuts.

McIlroy goes off at 9.25am local time on Friday - 12.25pm ET/5.25pm GMT.