Rory McIlroy was delighted with his first-round performance at the Genesis Invitational, where stormy conditions affected many players.

The Northern Irishman currently holds the joint-clubhouse lead on five under with American Jacob Bridgemann, though England's Aaron Rai is on six under with two holes left to play in his opening round.

The 2025 Masters champion dropped just one shot after a brilliant par-save with a chip on the sixth.

McIlroy revealed that he enjoys playing in more difficult conditions at this point in his career as he searches for his first title at the Los Angeles event.

Speaking to Sky Sports, McIlroy said: "It was very blustery, obviously we had that delay, and the course after that was very, very wet, so it was having to control your trajectory and spin.

"I've started to just really enjoy this style of golf.

High fives and five under  pic.twitter.com/k53W8Gt5oN

— The Genesis Invitational (@thegenesisinv) February 20, 2026

"If you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn't enjoy these conditions, but it's been a shift in mindset and maybe just a continuation of trying to build upon the skill set that I have. Then when it does get to conditions like this, I'm a lot more prepared.

"I was really happy with how I controlled my ball flight out there, and there was just some holes on that back nine that you knew if you made a par, that was a good score and you could move on.

"Overall, I'm very happy with today's work and I'm in a great spot to build from, from here.

"To receive a trophy from Tiger Woods on the 18th green on Sunday would be very cool. It's not something I've had the privilege to do yet. Hopefully if I keep playing well I'll have a chance to do that on Sunday."

Heavy rain meant play was stopped for three hours on Thursday, while insufficient light saw those late starters, such as Rai, unable to finish their first round at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Marco Penge is on three under with nine holes left in his opening round, while Si-Woo Kim (also three under) played 11 holes before the end of the day.

Meanwhile, it was another difficult outing for world number one Scottie Scheffler, who sits rock-bottom of the leaderboard on five over through 10 holes.