Rory McIlroy did not mince words when describing his opening round at the US PGA Championship, calling it 's***' after a disastrous finish that saw him card four consecutive bogeys.
The 37-year-old Northern Irishman, who was among the early starters at Aronimink Golf Club in southwest Philadelphia, appeared to have steadied his round after an initial bogey on the opening hole. He responded with a birdie and then rattled off ten straight pars. However, his back nine—which comprised the first nine holes of the course—proved his undoing, with five bogeys and a solitary birdie leaving him at four over par for the round.
When asked to summarize his performance, McIlroy was blunt: 'S***.' He elaborated on his struggles, saying: '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.'
McIlroy pinpointed his driving as the primary issue. '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.'
The 37-year-old is chasing a seventh major victory after successfully defending his Masters title last month. He had to cut short his first practice round at Aronimink due to a troublesome toe issue but confirmed that the problem did not affect his play during the opening round.
McIlroy had previously described the course as a 'bash driver down, figure it out' layout, but he admitted that wayward shots were more penal than he had anticipated. 'There certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway. Probably more than what I anticipated after being here, whatever it is, two Fridays ago,' he said.
McIlroy played in a high-profile group alongside Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, who is seeking a win at this event to complete the career grand slam. Both Spieth and Rahm finished their rounds at one under par. Rahm experienced an up-and-down round but was lifted by a pitch-in for eagle and a chip-in birdie on the back nine.
Pre-tournament speculation that Aronimink would not challenge the world's best golfers proved unfounded, with the clubhouse lead at only three under when the trio completed their rounds. Rahm commented on the course setup: '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 apologized after inadvertently hitting a volunteer with a divot during a frustrated swing. '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,' he explained. 'I couldn't feel any worse. That's why I was there apologizing. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that's inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable.'
