Rory McIlroy is 18 holes into his PGA Championship, and there are a few ways to explain what went down in a round of 4-over-74 at Aronimink Golf Club tied for 105th.
Scoring goals? There was that. From No. 10, McIlroy played the back 9 in par, and went through 14 holes. Then he boasted about 6. Then he drilled 7 holes. He then bogeyed 8. He then bogeyed 9. According to stats guru and GOLF.com contributor Justin Ray, Thursday was McIlroy’s 990th PGA Tour round, including majors — and the six-time winner had never made a bogey or worse on each of his four closing holes.
Can you call McIlroy’s round a bad driving day? You may. He hit just five of 14 fairways, which tied him for 139th in a field of 156 players.
“I started missing the fairways,” said McIlroy. “I missed the fairway on 4, the fairway right on 6, the fairway right on 7, the fairway right on 9. From there, it’s tough – you know, I didn’t have good angles either. And then obviously you start missing the edges of these greens, it’s tough.”
“Yeah, I felt like I did OK. I made that birdie on the 5th to get back even after a soft bogey on the 4th, then I got on that bogey train at the end.”
What happens without a tee?
“I have, like, I missed it, and I want to try to make it right,” McIlroy said. “Then I’ll do it to the extreme, and I’ll miss to the left, it’s a little bit more going back and forth that way.
“I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I had it figured out. When I came in here, I hit it well on Sunday at Quail Hollow, then I hit it well at home on Monday. And then … I hit it well yesterday.
“Every now and then, when I get under the gun, it seems like it’s starting to slow down for me.”
Was Aronimink himself behind McIlroy’s performance? That may have been the case. A few players have struggled. There are only less than three leaders.
“I didn’t expect it to be as windy today as it was,” said McIlroy. “I think it’s the windy conditions that make the goals what they are. It’s hard to get the ball close. Some of the pins are on the side. You have — say you have a pin on the left side of the green and the wind is coming from the left, it’s hard to pass it there.
“Probably seeing a lot of guys hit it 20 and 30 feet. Good shots. It’s just hard to make a lot of putts.”
But how does it happen McIlroy describe his opening cycle?
In his press conference, he was asked that question directly by president Greg Dillard.
