Rory McIlroy at Northern Trust Open 2016: Thursday Score and Reaction

Golf's No. 3 player in the world Rory McIlroy made his debut at the Northern Trust Open in style on Thursday, shooting a four-under, which was good for a tie for third-place at the time of his finish. 

McIlroy started strong, birdieing his first two holes of the day on 10 and 11. 

On 10, it was a solid chip to set up his first birdie. After driving his first shot into the fringe, a chip that created a manageable birdie putt was vital to get his round started off right. 

McIlroy was backing up his comments from Wednesday, as ESPN's Jason Sobel pointed out:

Via Mike McAllister of PGATour.com, McIlroy discussed his opening hole:

He showed off his power on 11, getting to the green on a par-five, 589-foot hole in just two shots as the PGA Tour showed:

That kind of driving ability was nothing special for McIlroy, via the PGA Tour:

McIlroy lost a stroke on 15 with a bogey, but answered well two holes later on 17 with his third birdie of the day. 

He remained consistent on the front-nine, picking up two more birdies to end his day at four under.

The fourth birdie of McIlroy's first round came on another par-five at No. 1, which was 503 yards. His approach game continued to be on point, using a second shot that traveled 181 yards and put his ball within 11 yards of the hole.

His last birdie of the day came on the seventh and put him one stroke back of the lead as the PGA Tour showed:

McIlroy was showing some flair too on No. 8 as the PGA Tour showed. He parred that hole:

It's a solid showing for a golfer that had never played at the Riviera before in his career. It's also a nice reminder to the rest of the golfing world that McIlroy is still plenty capable of coming in and challenging for the leaderboard on any given day. 

Stats courtesy of PGATour.com