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The second-best field of the year (to date) produced one of the best first-round leaders of the season as Rory McIlroy raced out in front at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 7-under 65 in the first round. McIlroy has owned this golf course for most of his career, and now he's positioned nicely to win for the second time in the last five years. Let's take a closer look at his round as well as who's chasing and what's in store for the rest of the week at Bay Hill.

Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter discuss Thursday's first round action at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Leader

Rory McIlroy (-7): A 65 looks nice on paper, but what looks even better is that McIlroy gained over seven strokes on the field. Traditionally between 16-20 strokes gained on a field in a given week is enough to win a golf tournament so there's still plenty of work to do, but one of the handful of best players in the world now has nearly half his work done for the week at a tournament where he's thrived, and that's going to be a real problem for everyone else.

McIlroy, who has five consecutive top 10s at this tournament, took advantage of the par 5s on Thursday where he was 5 under on those four holes. He also led the field in strokes gained driving and from tee to green, but the part of his game that stood out most was his iron play, which has sometimes been an issue as it relates to scoring. On Thursday, he gave himself eight looks inside of 15 feet on the day, which is certainly helpful as it relates to scoring. His putting was fine (inside the top 20), but he didn't need it to be tremendous because most of that work was done elsewhere.

"I was actually pretty surprised at how firm the greens were already," McIlroy said. "From the pro-am yesterday, we played at a similar time to today. The golf course is firmed up already. I think with this weather and the sort of warmer weather that's coming over the weekend, it's just going to get more and more firm as the week goes on. Then that places a premium so much more on just getting the ball in play. Fairways and greens and just being really disciplined with your game."

If tee to green play is the goal (and it is in most weeks but perhaps especially in this one), nobody was better than McIlroy in Round 1, and the lead he's built is why he's now a +225 favorite to get his second win of the season in just his third start.

Other Contenders

T2: Beau Hossler, J.J. Spaun, Billy Horschel (-5)
T5: Graeme McDowell, Sungjae Im, Will Zalatoris, Adam Scott, Charles Howell III, Ian Poulter (-4)

This is quite the eclectic group behind McIlroy. Hossler, Horschel and Scott have been playing some good golf, McDowell, Howell III and Poulter are a bit of a surprise, but Im and Zalatoris are likely the best bets to sustain this clip over the next three days. Im crushes in Florida and has a good history here with two top threes in his last three starts. Zalatoris was top 15 from tee to green and putted quite well (always a promising sign for him). If I had to pick two out of this crew, those are the two I would choose.

Shot of the day

Jon Rahm's missed 10-inch putt on the par-3 7th hole was the shot of the day, not because it was great but because it was very relatable for the rest of us to watch literally the best golfer on earth do something so horrible on a golf course.

This one was runner up for most relatable shot of the day.

Quote of the day

The mutual admiration society between McIlroy and Scott (combined -11 on Thursday) was fun to see.

Scott: "I like playing with Rory. I really enjoy watching him play. He's a guy I can watch play and get positive swing thoughts for myself. I love watching him swing a golf club. I think almost everyone in the world would say that. But he's a guy I like watching play. Generally, he can lift my level of golf, especially when he's playing the way he did today."

McIlroy: "Yeah, any time I play with Adam, it's a good pairing. We chat about all sorts of stuff. I feel like we've got quite a bit in common. Yeah, anyone could watch Adam Scott swing the club all day long. He's got a nice rhythm. Yeah, it's nice. If he feeds off me, I certainly think I feed off him a little bit too.

Craziest stat

Rahm finished second in approach play (and 12th from tee to green) and 114th (out of 120) in putting. Much of that was due to his missed 10-incher, but it's still a shocking number. And also one that it's easy to envision him bouncing back from with a 65 or 66 on Friday

New odds and pick

Here's a look at the new odds after 18 holes, courtesy of Ceasars Sportsbook.

  • Rory McIlroy: +225
  • Billy Horschel: 11-1
  • Viktor Hovland: 12-1
  • Sungjae Im: 12-1
  • Will Zalatoris: 14-1
  • Jon Rahm: 20-1

I was surprised to see Rory this long and Rahm this short. I could have seen Rory at more like -100 after the day he had and the history he's had on this course, and Rahm at 20-1 even though he's seven back of a four-time major winner is fascinating. It shows how much folks (myself included) believe in the level of golf he's playing right now and what he could do if the putter gets hot over the final 54.