Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy will tee off his second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill aware “the course demands good ball-striking” following an opening 70.

McIlroy – a winner at Bay Hill in 2018 – bogeyed the last on Thursday, having dropped a stroke on the opening hole.

In between, he carded six birdies and two more bogeys en route to a 70 that left him three shots off leader Wyndham Clark.

“I think the guys that teed off a little later got a little bit of a reprieve,” McIlroy was quoted on Sky Sports. “It was still breezy, but not quite as tough as the guys got it this morning.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2025 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

"A couple under was a good start.

"I think the course demands good ball-striking.

"You have to really control your flight and distance very well with your irons.

"That's something that I've been working on quite a lot and feel like I'm pretty good at that.

"It's a great second-shot golf course and I feel like that's why I've excelled here."

Clark shot a five-under-par 67 to take a two-stroke lead in a wind-hit first round.

Shane Lowry was among a group of players tied for second after a 69, one better than McIlroy and Justin Rose on a day when only 14 players broke par at Bay Hill.

Two late birdies lifted former US Open champion Clark to the top of the leaderboard.

Lowry shared the lead on four-under-par after an eagle at the 16th, but he dropped a shot at the last.

He is tied with American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Canadian Corey Conners and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa.

Rose joined McIlroy at two-under-par late in the day, despite also opening with a bogey and adding a double bogey six at the ninth.

South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, Australian Cam Davis and American Max Greyserman also shot 70s, one better than world number one Scottie Scheffler.

He was joined at one-under-par by fellow Americans Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.

Xander Schauffeler suffered on his return from a rib injury, an opening 77 threatening his run of making 57 consecutive cuts.

“(I’m) a bit of a masochist, I guess,” Schauffele said. “I knew I was going to come in on short notice to what is sort of like a major championship set-up around the greens, and with the greens being crusty, I really felt it there more than anything else.”