PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (AP) ― This is not the rivalry anyone had in mind when Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy began the year.

They made their debut in Abu Dhabi last month and both missed the cut. The next time they played in the same tournament was last week in the Match Play Championship, and both were eliminated in the first round.

The difference is that Woods returned to Torrey Pines the week after missing the cut. He left little reason for anyone to doubt his game when he built a lead that reached eight shots until the day dragged on and he won by four for his 75th career win on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy knew starting the year there would attention on his change from Titleist to Nike, and it only intensified with two bad results.

But the start of the Florida swing is no time to panic, and McIlroy sure didn’t sound worried at the Honda Classic. “It’s fine. I knew coming into (the year) it was going to be a bit of a process and I knew there was going to be comments if it didn’t happen for me right away,” McIlroy said. “I’m only two tournaments into the season. I’ve still 20 to go. So it’s not like I’m in any rush. It’s not like I’m pushing for answers. Everything is there. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

Munoz leads after first round at HSBC

SINGAPORE (AP) ― Spain’s Azahara Munoz shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the HSBC Women’s Champions on Thursday.

Munoz, playing in the first group of the day, made seven birdies in a blemish-free round to top a leaderboard at Sentosa Golf Club that includes 17 of the top 20 players in the world.

Stacy Lewis, Karin Sjodin, Lizette Salas, Pornanong Phatlum and Yoo Sun-young were tied for second place at 5-under 67. Paula Creamer was another stroke back after a 68, despite injuring her right shoulder in a car accident in Thailand.