Rory McIlroy credited his final round surge at Augusta for leading on day one of the PGA Championship with his best opening round to a Major for 11 years.
Not since the 2011 US Open, which he won by eight strokes, has McIlroy enjoyed such a good start to one of golf’s big four as he carded a five-under par round of 65.
Casting his mind back to the 64 he scored at the Masters last month to finish runner-up to Scottie Scheffler, he said: “I took a lot from that final week in Augusta. Great to get off to a good start in a major championship for a change. Now, I need to try to keep it going.”
McIlroy has habitually been undone by poor opening rounds at the Majors in recent years leaving himself with too much work to claw himself back into contention.
Yesterday, he got off to a scintillating start with four birdies in his opening six holes. He stuttered with two bogeys late on the back nine before recovering with a long-range birdie putt to take an outright one-shot lead.
Playing in a group with Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, he said: “I was excited to play in a group like that. I always enjoy playing with Tiger and Jordan. Overall, just a great day.”
Despite enjoying such a strong start, McIlroy, who goes off with the same group later today, said: “I came here knowing my game is in good shape. It’s about executing the shots you can.
“It’s a great start. I need to replicate that tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, and not get ahead of myself I’m going to have to keep doing that over the next three days if I’m going to have a chance to win.”
Woods, in contrast, struggled to four-over par and looked to be in pain late in the round. He plans to return for round two despite the comfort but said: “My leg is not feeling as good as I would like it to be. We’ll start the recovery process and get after it tomorrow.”
