( CNN ) -- Northern Ireland 's Rory McIlroy stormed to a seven-under round of 63 in the opening round of the Honda Classic at Florida 's PGA National on Thursday . The world No . 8 , who dramatically pulled out of the tournament following a disastrous start to his second round 12 months ago , produced a bogey-free round to finish one shot clear of America 's Russell Henley . McIlroy , who is looking to repeat his 2012 success at Palm Beach Gardens , came home in just 30 strokes aided by back-to-back birdies at the closing two holes . South Africa 's Rory Sabbatini , William McGirt from the U.S. and Wales ' Jamie Donaldson are tied for third place after each shot opening rounds of 65 . Read more : Latest leaderboard . Australia 's Adam Scott , who will start the defence of his Masters title at Augusta National in just six weeks , got off to a steady start -- a two-under par 68 leaves the world No . 2 in a tie for 21st place . But it was another dissatisfying day at the office for Tiger Woods who remains mired , by his high standards , in mediocrity after struggling to an opening round one-over par 71 . The world No . 1 , who crashed out of the Farmers Insurance Open with a 79 in January , birdied the last hole to end on a positive note after struggling to find his form on the greens . `` I hit it good enough to shoot at least three or four lower than I did , '' Woods said . `` I had so many looks that I just missed . I hit good putts but I did n't figure out the greens as well as I needed to . I need to read them a little better than I did . '' World No . 3 , Henrik Stenson also struggled to get going on Thursday and finished with a three-over par 73 . Elsewhere , Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell both opened with even-par rounds of 70 and are currently tied for 57th . Further up the leaderboard , Zimbabwe 's Brendon de Jonge is tied with America 's Derek Ernst , Tommy Gainey , Brice Garnett and Matt Every for sixth on four-under par . England 's Luke Donald and former Masters champion Zach Johnson are part of 10-way tie for 11th place after opening rounds of 67 .
Rory McIlroy shoots seven-under 63 in opening round of Honda Classic . World No . 8 banishes memory of miserable , premature exit 12 months ago . Tiger Woods struggles to one-over par round of 71 . World No . 2 Adam Scott in mix after opening with two-under 68 .