After firing a bogey-free, 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Matt Every kept things real.

“It’s going to be alright either way," he said Thursday, "no matter what I shoot tomorrow."

A day later, after a disastrous 83 that dropped him from first to a likely MC at Arnie's Place, the two-time champion at Bay Hill struggled to keep that same perspective.

"Today was rough," Every told GolfChannel.com as he stood outside an essentially empty scoring area, a far cry from the scene less than 24 hours ago when Every was a hot commodity, even making a trip to the media center.

"I really didn't feel like I played that bad, I just just didn't make anything and then you miss the fairway here ... I just played bad, that's what it is."

Every carded four double bogeys on a slightly chilly morning in Orlando, about an hour from Every's hometown of Daytona Beach. He was 4 over through nine holes with a double bogey at the par-4 fifth, where he rinsed he tee shot right. He then doubled Nos. 10 and 11, splashing his approach at the latter. His fourth and final double came at the par-4 finishing hole, where he three-putted from 18 feet.

In his last three rounds, Every has gone 85-65-83.

"Last week, I sucked the whole week," said Every, who finished dead last at the Honda Classic. "Today was just kind of gradual sucking all day."

Every has now missed four of his past five cuts and hasn't notched a top-10 since sharing runner-up honors at last summer's AT&T Byron Nelson. He also is set to unseat his former college teammate Camilo Villegas, who had previously been the last outright leader to miss the cut on Tour, doing so at the 2013 Honda Classic.

"It stinks for me because I really wanted to play well and I really didn't see this coming, to be honest," said Every, who also noted that he may take some extended time off following next week's Players Championship to rest a back injury.

"It happens, it just happens to me a lot."