Rory McIlroy in full flight most of round, grabs early lead
TULSA — Earlier in the week, Rory McIlroy spoke to his desire to start major championships on a better note. Mission accomplished. McIlroy stole the spotlight from his co-stars in Thursday’s first round of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills, grabbing the clubhouse lead with a 5-under 65 while Tiger Woods limped home with a 74 and Jordan Spieth grinded his way to a 72 in front of massive but subdued galleries.
“It was a great start to the tournament,” McIlroy said. “I’ve been playing well coming in here. I’ve been carrying some good form. And played good in the practice rounds earlier this week.
“I think when your game is feeling like that, it’s just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world. I did that really well today.”
The four-time major champion and two-time Wanamaker Trophy winner is well aware that it’s been nearly 8 years since he won one of the game’s most coveted titles, his last coming in the 2014 PGA Championship. One of the reasons behind the drought has been his inability to get off on the right foot. In the past eight years, his average in the first round is nearly 2.5 strokes higher than the other three rounds.
In the Masters in April, McIlroy was kicking himself after opening with rounds of 73-73 and then seeing his weekend rounds of 71-64 – by far the lowest total in the final two rounds – falling three strokes short.
“It was nice to get off to that good start and sorta keep it going,” he said.