World No. 309 Matt Every leads PGA Tour event at Bay Hill, and No. 1 Rory McIlroy is second

The leading two players at the Arnold Palmer Invitational are no surprise, even if they have next to nothing in common.

Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world who hasn't finished out of the top 10 in any tournament since September, shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday morning at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla.

Matt Every, the No. 309 player in the world whose only two PGA Tour victories in 237 starts were back-to-back at Bay Hill, played in the tough afternoon wind and was one shot better with a 65.

Not only was it Every's lowest round at Bay Hill, it was 20 shots better than his last round. He shot an 85 six days ago in the Honda Classic.

What a game.

Every, who served a three-month suspension at the end of last year for using cannabis that he said was prescribed legally for mental health treatment, played bogey-free and poured it on during his back nine with birdie putts of 35, 45 and 30 feet.

"I just didn't want to shoot myself out of the tournament," Every said. "The putter was a little shaky. It's always a little shaky. It was a good day for me."

"To hole that putt for bogey ... making 5 instead of 6 there is a big deal," McIlroy said. "One over through 2 instead of 2 over is sort of a different feeling."

McIlroy made three birdies and an eagle on his back nine.

Scottie Scheffler boosted his bid for a Masters invitation with a bogey-free 67 and joined Talor Gooch two shots behind. Scheffler, the player of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour, is No. 51 in the world and needs to be in the top 50 after the Match Play at the end of the month to receive that Masters invitation.

Afternoon winds contributed to Phil Mickelson's 77, but they didn't explain Adam Scott's morning 77. Only 18 players from the 120-man field broke 70.

Four-time PGA Tour winner Scott Piercy lost two endorsement deals Thursday for sharing a homophobic meme poking fun at Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, and referencing the far-right conspiracy QAnon. Piercy apologized on Instagram, but Titleist and clothing maker J. Linebergh ended contracts with Piercy.

Coach Elliot Steinmetz said the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Pikesville canceled the reservation. A student at the Orthodox Jewish university in New York has tested positive for the virus. The team, which has won 27 games in a row, is in Pikesville for the first round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament.

"I made it very clear to the hotel that it's discrimination," Steinmetz said. "I basically said to them: 'Do you have a checkbox on your website that says that you've been in an area with suspected coronavirus?' And they said no. So I said: 'Is it just for the guests of Yeshiva University?' And they said yes. I told them that that's called discrimination."

Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes, whose next home game is Saturday against the Loons, were among teams saying they would monitor the coronavirus before making schedule decisions. Santa Clara County has declared a local health emergency.

The University of Kansas forcefully objected to charges that its storied men's basketball program, currently No. 1 in the nation, and its football program had committed significant violations tied primarily to recruiting.

In a series of documents totaling nearly 300 pages, the school claimed facts involving the basketball program are in dispute, including charges that Kansas lacked institutional control and that coach Bill Self and an assistant, Kurtis Townsend, had committed a series of violations involving Adidas.

Kentucky permanently revoked ticket privileges for a Wildcats fan who was shown on video yelling a racial slur at Tennessee fan during a men's basketball game.

Two videos from Tuesday's game showed a woman, who identified herself as Ashley Lyles, yelling a slur.

Athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced the revocation on his verified Twitter account.