Rory McIlroy used one word to describe his first round at PGA Championship: 'S**t'

McIlroy ended his practice round early on Tuesday thanks to a toe blister that was causing him pain, but when asked if it was still bothering him, his answer was succinct: "No."

The 37-year-old form Northern Ireland opened with a bogey at No. 10 but bounced right back with a birdie at the 11th. He did the same thing again later in the round, making bogey at the fourth before pouring in a 32-foot putt for birdie at No. 5. According to stats guru Justin Ray, it marked the first time McIlroy has closed with four straight bogeys in 990 career rounds on the PGA Tour. When he signed his scorecard just after 2 p.m. ET, he sat in a tie for 122nd on the leaderboard.

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If there's silver lining, it's the fact that Aronimink is playing much tougher than the masses expected it to in the lead-up to the event. Tricky green complexes and a strong wind presented a serious challenge to the world's best players in the first round.

"I wasn't expecting it to be as windy today as it was," McIlroy said. "I think it's the breezy conditions that are sort of making the scoring what it is. It's hard to get the ball close. Some of the pins are tucked away. Say you have a pin tucked over on the left side of the green and the wind's coming off the left, it's hard to get it over there. Probably just seeing a lot of guys hit it to 20 and 30 feet. They're good shots, it's just hard to make a lot of those putts."

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after a putt on the sixth green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 14, 2026 in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

McIlroy finds himself in a familiar position at the PGA Championship, where a year ago, he shot 3-over 74 to open the tournament at Quail Hollow after being in the headlines all week when his driver failed a conformity test.

When asked how he compares the post-round feeling from this 74 to last year's opening 74, McIlroy said, "I can't really remember. I was frustrated because my driver failed the test. I sort of had to get into a backup pretty quickly, and that sort of threw me for a loop a little bit. I'd say similar sense of frustration. I'm just, yeah, not driving the ball well enough to give myself enough scoring opportunities."

In 2025, McIlroy bounced back from his lackluster opening round with a 4-under 67 in the second round, and he'll need to do something similar if he hopes to make the cut at Aronimink. DataGolf currently gives the cutline an equal chance of ending up at 2 over or 3 over, so McIlroy will almost certainly need to post a score in red numbers to secure a spot on the weekend tee sheet.

It's a far cry from the mood after the first round of the Masters, which saw McIlroy shoot 5-under 67 to tie for the early lead and then lap the field on Friday with a 65, taking a six-shot advantage into the weekend. Instead, he faces an uphill battle in his quest for a seventh career major title.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Rory McIlroy struggles in first round of 2026 PGA Championship