Tied for 105th at PGA, Rory McIlroy describes round in 4 letters

TL;DR

Rory McIlroy finished his first round at the PGA Championship tied for 105th with a score of four-over-74. He struggled with his driving accuracy, hitting only five of 14 fairways.

Key points

Rory McIlroy scored four-over-74 at the PGA Championship
He is tied for 105th place after the first round
McIlroy hit only five of 14 fairways
He bogeyed the last four holes of his round
This was his 990th PGA Tour round

Mentioned in this story

Aronimink Golf Club

Rory McIlroyPGA Championship

Rory McIlroy on Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club.Getty Images

Rory McIlroy is 18 holes into his PGA Championship, and there are a handful of ways you could describe what went down in a four-over-74 round at Aronimink Golf Club that has him tied for 105th.

Poor scoring? There was that. Starting on No. 10, McIlroy played the back nine at even par, and he was even through 14 holes. Then he bogeyed 6. Then he bogeyed 7. Then he bogeyed 8. Then he 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 major winner had previously never made bogey or worse on each of his four closing holes.

Could you also call McIlroy’s round an ugly driving day? You could. He hit just five of 14 fairways, which tied him for 139th in the 156-player field.

“I started missing fairways,” McIlroy said. “I missed the fairway right on 4, the fairway right on 6, the fairway right on 7, fairway right on 9. From there, it’s hard — you know, I didn’t have great angles either. Then obviously you start missing it just off the edges of these greens, it gets tricky.

“Yeah, I felt like I did OK. I made that birdie on 5 to get back to even par after the soft bogey on 4, then I just got on that bogey train at the end.”

What’s happening off the tee?

“I’ve sort of got, like I miss it right, and then I want to try to correct it,” McIlroy said. “And then I’ll overdo it, and I’ll miss it left. It’s a little bit of back and forth that way. So that’s pretty frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball well.

“I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out. Coming in here, I hit it well on Sunday at Quail Hollow, and then hit it good at home on Monday. Then … hit it decent yesterday.

“Just sort of, once I get under the gun, it just seems like it starts to go a little bit wayward on me.”

Was Aronimink itself behind McIlroy’s play? It might have been. Several players struggled. The leaders are only at three-under.

Q&A

What was Rory McIlroy's score in the first round of the PGA Championship?

Rory McIlroy scored four-over-74 in his first round at the PGA Championship.

How did Rory McIlroy perform on the back nine at Aronimink Golf Club?

McIlroy played the back nine at even par but struggled significantly on the front nine.

What unusual statistic did Rory McIlroy achieve during his round?

It was the first time in his 990 PGA Tour rounds that McIlroy made bogey or worse on each of his four closing holes.

How many fairways did Rory McIlroy hit during his first round?

McIlroy hit only five of 14 fairways, ranking him tied for 139th in the field.