Rory McIlroy returned to the PGA Tour with a bang carding a super 68 on the opening day of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in his first round since The Masters last month.
On the day of his 34th birthday, McIlroy had four birdies and just a single bogey and ends round one just two strokes behind current leader Kevin Streelman.
The former three-time winner of the event began his day with a solid Birdie on the Par-5 10th before parring his next three holes, with a Birdie on 14 took the Holywood star to two-under.
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McIlroy finished his front nine in two-under par and parred the first three as he headed for home.
He made Birdie on the fourth hole, as his tee shot miraculously collided with Matt Fitzpatrick's ball on the green to set up an easy Birdie which moved him to three-under.
A sloppy Bogey at 7 was expunged by a Birdie on nine as McIlroy finished his day on three-under par after signing off with a score of 68.
Today marked McIlroy's first appearance on the PGA Tour since he failed to make the cut at Augusta National last month. The third ranked player in the World skipped the RBC Heritage a week after The Masters, and was promptly fined $3 million for not playing in the designated event.
Ahead of the tournament, McIlroy revealed that his "mental and emotional wellbeing" was a reason for him withdrawing from the RBC Heritage last month after his Masters misery.
He told the Golf Channel: "I needed a break for me.
"Obviously, after the disappointment of Augusta, and it's been a pretty taxing 12 months mentally, so it was nice to just try to disconnect a little bit and get away from it.
"But it's nice to come back and feel refreshed and I think we're on a pretty busy run here from now until after the play-offs so I'm excited to get going.
"I think it was a combination of a few things, and just after the disappointment of Augusta and how I played there, it was just more for my mental and emotional wellbeing I just needed to be at home for those few weeks but, as I said, looking forward to getting back this week."
He added: "I think I'm in a better headspace than I was. Yes, you know, that run-up to Augusta is always a stressful enough couple of weeks trying to make sure everything is in the right order and making sure your game is in good shape.
"I think for me it was a nice reset because I still had to realise that there are three more majors this year, there is a ton left to play for."
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