Rory McIlroy battles wind and rain to share clubhouse lead at Genesis Invitational

Persistent rain and strong winds wreaked havoc across the course, with play eventually halted by darkness. When the horn sounded, Aaron Rai sat atop the leaderboard at six-under through 16 holes, while McIlroy held the clubhouse lead on five-under alongside American Jacob Bridgeman.

McIlroy carded six birdies against a lone bogey. He and Bridgeman both regrouped impressively after a rain delay that stretched close to three hours, as heavy showers eased but swirling winds intensified later in the day.

Conditions proved far less forgiving for some of the late starters. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler endured a difficult opening stretch, mixing a double-bogey and three bogeys with no birdies to slump to five-over through 10 holes, leaving him tied at the bottom when play was suspended.

Rai was three-under after 12 holes and then picked up further shots at 13, 15 and 16 to surge ahead.

McIlroy  reached two-under through the opening three holes. After the delay, he drained a 30-footer for birdie at the fourth, added another from 19 feet at the eighth, and converted again at the par-five 11th.

A dropped shot at 16 briefly knocked him off the lead, but he responded immediately, reclaiming ground with a birdie at the par-five 17th.

"I've definitely got more comfortable playing in conditions like this over the past few years as I've gotten more comfortable in controlling my ball flight," McIlroy said. "I've started to just really enjoy this style of golf.

"Honestly, I haven't always had the skill set to excel in (the conditions)," he said. "To start to enjoy them and have the shots to succeed on days like this, that's a really satisfying thing to be able to be, you know, nearly 20 years into a career and still feel like you're getting better at some aspects of the game."