Jason Day tied sixth at the Players Championship amid Rory McIlroy drama

There was high drama at the opening round of the fifth major in Florida involving Rory McIlroy as Jason Day flew the Aussie flag.

Jason Day leads the Aussie charge. Picture: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via FP

Jason Day was set for a “cold plunge” as part of his daily back management after a striking opening round of five-under 67 at The Players Championship on a dramatic day when leader Rory McIlroy overcame a rules controversy to top the leaderboard.

A champion at TPC Sawgrass in 2016, Day is a different player eight years later, his body now needing daily work to help him produce the five birdies he compiled in Florida to get into a tie for sixth while conceding it was “only the first day”.

The Queenslander said he had to “teeter on the edge” of being sore to get in the practice he needs to compete again with the best in the world, a balance he’s found after climbing back into the world top 20 due to his management plan.

“Like every day I’ll have, there’s hiccups along the way. Obviously, from where I was to where I am now is a dramatic difference,” he said.

“I cold plunge, sauna and cold plunge every morning, and I’ll probably cold plunge today just to stay on top of it.

“There’s probably a good two to three hours of body work a day that I have to put into it.”

Off to a strong start here at @THEPLAYERS Ready to get back to work tomorrow 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/pRvyLXRFHo

— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) March 14, 2024

Day said he’d like to think winning around the tough Stadium Course could be an advantage going forward, but wasn’t sure if it would be.

“It’s one of those golf courses where previously, before I won the event, I didn’t have a lot of great results,” he said.

“Then I won the event, and since then I’ve had some decent finishes.”

Day is two shots behind McIlroy, who insisted he would play out the event with a clear conscience after having a lengthy debate with playing partners Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland when his tee shot at the par four seventh hole bounced off a bank and into a lake.

The players spoke at length about whether the ball had pitched above or below the red hazard line and where McIlroy should drop the ball.

Hovland cast doubt on McIlroy’s insistence it was above, as did Spieth.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy's drop on No. 7.

Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024

McIlroy took a drop, made a double-bogey six, costing him a bigger lead, but was confident he’d done the right thing.

“If I feel like I’ve done something wrong, it’ll play on my conscience for the rest of the tournament,” said McIlroy, who was tied at seven-under with Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark.

“I’m a big believer in karma and if you do something wrong, I feel like it’s going to come around and bite you at some point. I obviously didn’t try to do anything wrong out there. I tried to play by the rules and do the right thing. I feel like I obviously did that with those two drops.”

Adam Scott was the next best Australian, opening with a two-under 69, but it didn’t go as planned for his countrymen. Min Woo Lee began with a one-over 73 while Cam Davis had four double-bogeys in his seven-over round of 79 which left him second last on the leaderboard.