Rory McIlroy Plays Inconsistent Opening Round at 2017 Players Championship

If Rory McIlroy is going to win the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, he'll need to stage quite the comeback.

McIlroy struggled in the opening round on Thursday, shooting a disappointing one-over 73 that left him six strokes behind leaders William McGirt and Mackenzie Hughes in his first tournament since the Masters.

You can see the leaderboard below:

"I was a little rusty out there," McIlroy said, per Ewan Murray of the Guardian. "I feel like I turned a 75 or a 76 into a 73, so it wasn't all bad."

McIlroy has been in good form this season when healthy, with a top-10 finish in all five of the tournaments he's played. But the back injury that plagued him earlier in the season may have reared its ugly head again, as McIlroy said he aggravated his injury, per Jason Sobel of ESPN.

The rust McIlroy referenced was apparent. He opened play with a bogey on No. 1 before turning things around with a birdie on the next hole. Another bogey on No. 7 was followed by a birdie on No. 9 that left him even through the front nine.

Things soured on No. 10, however, as a double bogey left him at two over. He responded with a birdie on No. 12 before another double bogey on No. 14 dropped him to three over. He finished his round with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18, a positive ending after a disappointing round for one of the top contenders coming into the tournament.

In all, he finished with an average driving distance of 295 yards, a driving accuracy of 42.8 percent, hit 55.5 percent of greens in regulation and gained 0.485 strokes putting, according to PGATour.com.

It remains unclear how serious his injury is or whether it will force him to withdraw from the tournament. But it certainly isn't good news, even if he's able to continue playing, for a player who has traditionally struggled at the Players.

"For all his greatness, McIlroy didn't even break par at The Players until his fourth appearance," according to the Associated Press (via Golf.com). "He missed the cut three straight times, though he has shown steady improvement in recent years. Even so, he has never been closer than four shots of the winner."

McIlroy acknowledged that TPC Sawgrass presented a unique challenge to him before the tournament began.

"I've always felt that driving is a big advantage for me if I can drive the ball well," he said, per the AP. "Here, it just doesn't let me do that, and earlier on in my career I had to come to terms with that and come to terms with hitting the ball in the same positions as everyone else off the tee and then trying to beat them in from there."

After Thursday, there are more questions than answers regarding McIlroy's return to play. Will he shake off the rust? Can he work his way up the leaderboard? Will he even be able to continue after tweaking his back? Will his comeback be short-lived?

Much will be answered Friday when he tees off at 8:27 a.m. on the 10th tee, along with Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas. McIlroy and his fans will be hoping the answers keep him on the course and in the running for a title.