Spieth struggles to keep pace with McIlroy in first round of Players Championship

Masters champion Jordan Spieth produced an underwhelming performance on the opening day of the Players Championship as the American was outscored by world number one Rory McIlroy by six strokes.

While McIlroy fired an impressive three-under-par 69 to trail leader, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, by two strokes, Spieth struggled and appeared woefully out of sorts in his 75.

Reflecting on his performance, Spieth said that although he certainly enjoyed playing with both Jason Day (who also hit a 69) and McIlroy, he didn't like playing first on every approach shot.

Spieth further said that it was just a really poor day, admitting that he has got to find something to work on. He added that hadn't he putted well, he could have gone up there towards the 80 number, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Meanwhile, McIlroy said that anything in the sixties was a good score then, adding that if he could keep up his good play on the back nine and be a little bit more consistent on the front nine, then that could bode well for the week.