Rory McIlroy gave a word of response to a question about his opening round at the PGA Championship as he bids for back-to-back major titles
Rory McIlroy described his opening round of the US PGA Championship as s*** after he finished with four successive bogeys. McIlroy’s frustrations boiled over after he found himself 4-over, with his bid for back-to-back major titles turning into a battle to make the cut at Aronimink Golf Club.
The Northern Irishman played alongside Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth during the first round but struggled to close out his day in a positive fashion. The 37-year-old bogeyed the final four holes of his round and had two more on the day with just two birdies overall.
And asked to describe his round by the moderator, McIlroy replied: “S***. I started missing fairways. I missed the fairway right on four, the fairway right on six, the fairway right on seven, fairway right on nine.
“I made that birdie on five to get back to even-par after the soft bogey on four, then I just got on that bogey train at the end.
“I’m just not driving the ball well enough. It’s been a problem all year for the most part. I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out.
“Just sort of, once I get under the gun, it just seems like it starts to go a little bit wayward on me.”
McIlroy is chasing a seventh major win after defending his Masters title last month. He had to cut short his first practice round here due to a troublesome toe issue but confirmed that did not affect him.
“He [McIlroy] didn’t putt very well but it all goes back to off the tee,” former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley told Sky Sports. “All of his dropped shots, except for one, were dropped from being wild off the tee and being unable to recover.
“We saw him win The Masters so brilliantly, but he was second-last for driving accuracy and so he got away with it. Today, Aronimink bit anyone who hit it in the rough.
“A lot of players said this week there was no strategy off the tee and you just belt driver everywhere but the scoring proved that is not the case. You miss fairways at your peril around here as the greens are treacherous. You need to hit the fairway to have control.”
Spieth and Rahm both finished their rounds on one under par. And Rahm said: “There was some chatter where people thought 15 to 20 under was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA and they did something about it!
“Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.”
Rahm also apologised after hitting a volunteer with a divot during a frustrated swing. He said: “Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.
“I couldn’t feel any worse. That’s why I was there apologising. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable.”
