LOS ANGELES — The first three holes on Thursday looked absolutely miserable for Rory McIlroy.
But some eight hours after his first tee shot, McIlroy didn’t hesitate.
“The rain,” McIlroy said immediately when asked what part of the round he preferred. The second section of the trail, although completely dry, was surprisingly much more difficult.
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But whether it was a freak morning rain pummeling players and delaying play by three hours, or wind gusts of more than 20 mph sweeping through Riviera Country Club, McIlroy seemed to handle both with ease.
His 5-under 66 at the Genesis Invitational gave him a share of the lead entering the clubhouse. Aaron Rye eventually surpassed him with a birdie on Thursday night before play was suspended due to darkness.
“I’m starting to really enjoy this style of golf,” McIlroy said. “If you asked me ten years ago, I didn’t like these conditions, but it’s a mindset change and maybe just continue to work on building on the skills that I have. Then, when conditions like this actually come up, I’ll be more prepared.”
“I wouldn’t say I like them, but I can certainly handle them better.”
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McIlroy birdied two of his first three holes before a rain delay, then added his first birdie after the break and seemed unaffected by the hours-long gap in the round. He saved his par with ease multiple times when things could have collapsed on him, like when he had to chip a ball on the putting surface on the sixth hole and he turned it back close enough for an easy par.
McIlroy also had almost no bogeys on the day, except on the par-3 16th, when he teed off the green and slipped on his tee shot. In perhaps the one time all day he looked truly frustrated, he twice slammed the top of his iron into the small white toy Genesis car that marked the tee on his way out of the zone.
But McIlroy made up for it with a birdie on the short par-5 17th, regaining a share of the lead before walking off the course for good.
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Rye, who has won one Tour title in his career, was 6 under on the day and had back-to-back birdies toward the end. He still has two holes to play before the second round begins on Friday. Jacob Bridgeman tied McIlroy at 5 under in the first round of the Genesis Invitational.
Scheffler uncharacteristically struggled. The world’s No. 1 golfer had two bogeys and a double bogey to go into the spinners at 4 over and had his 10th bogey before the end of the round. That puts him tied for last on the leaderboard.
Thursday’s bad conditions appear to be just a one-day problem, though. The rain will clear up and the winds will subside significantly (if not completely) for the rest of the weekend.
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“I think this course is going to be a lot different over the next three days … just the ability to score with the wind going down,” said Collin Morikawa, who joined McIlroy at 3 under. “So we’re going to see some low scores over the next 54 holes.”
While that should open the door for others — including Scheffler, who always seems to find a way to charge in time in the final round no matter what happens on Thursday — McIlroy holds an early advantage in the second tour stop of the season.
