SAN DIEGO _ With one hand on his putter, Rory McIlroy tapped in for bogey seconds after an errant putt on his second hole. Two holes later, the 30-year-old from Northern Ireland slammed his driver into the tee box after his drive hooked toward the Pacific Ocean.
It was that kind of morning for the No. 2 ranked player in the world _ and he had company.
All three members of the last group to tee off Sunday at Torrey Pines South _ McIlroy, Day 3 leader Jon Rahm and Day 2 leader Ryan Palmer _ were playing catch-up by the turn after an adventurous start to the final round at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Marc Leishman stormed from behind and held on for the win when Rahm's second-half surge wound up a stroke shy of forcing a playoff.
Like McIlroy, Rahm would have been in much different position _ perhaps hoisting a trophy here for the second time _ if it weren't for a disastrous start to his round.
"Well, I can say I can't really play much worse for the first 10 holes," Rahm said.
Perhaps not.
And while missing the fairway and green at the first hole immediately gave away a stroke, it was Rahm's third tee shot _ into thick rough, more than 40 feet away from the pin on the 138-yard par-3 hole _ that ultimately buried him.
He needed two hacks to get his ball onto the green and then two putts to finish off a double bogey. Rahm also bogeyed the fifth hole before his first birdie on No. 6 allowed him to make the turn at 3 over.
"Honestly, I misread the wind and then just mishit it a little bit," Rahm said. "I don't think I hit one solid shot until that 4-iron on 11 (for par). Everything else was pretty much mishit. It was a combination (on No. 3). I didn't think the wind was there and just mishit it. Maybe the wrong shot and it was still a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be."
Both Palmer _ who had seven bogeys in a 5-over 77 and fell from second into a tie for 21st _ and McIlroy also bogeyed the first hole.
McIlroy at least recovered to shoot 6 under over his last 14 holes to finish in a tie for third in his second start here, but a slow start all but ruined any chance of scoring the win needed to overtake Brooks Koepka for the No. 1 spot in the world.
His first drive plunged into the bunker left of the fairway. His next tee shot also found the sand and his fourth tee shot veered toward the ocean and out of play, requiring McIlroy to take a drop and a penalty stroke.
"It was tough today," said McIlroy, who bogeyed three of his first four holes. "The pins were tucked away a little bit, greens were maybe a touch firmer than they were the last few days, so for (Leishman) to go out there and shoot 65, yeah, really, really good playing."
McIlroy got back on track on the fifth, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt to draw the first real applause from the crowd tracking the initial leading group. He added a 21-foot putt for eagle on the sixth and pulled back to within two strokes of Leishman and into sole possession of second place with back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes.
He was even putting for a long-shot eagle on the 18th from 78 feet out but couldn't quite find the cup to finish off his first round of the year.
"I'm happy with the fight I put up today," said McIlroy, who tied for fifth here a year ago. " ... To shoot 69 and 3 under par after that start, I was trying to make eagle at the last to consolidate third on my own, but T-3's a way to start the year."
