Rory McIlroy has 18 holes in his The PGA Championshipand there are several ways you can describe him shooting a round of four-over 74 at Aronimink Golf Club that has him tied for 105th.
Poor grade? It wasn’t that. Starting on No. 10, McIlroy played the back nine in 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 RayThursday was McIlroy’s 990th PGA round, including majors — and six-time major winner he had never previously made bogey or worse on any of his four closing holes.
Can you also call McIlroy’s spin an ugly day’s driving? You can. 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 on 4, the fairway on 6, the fairway on 7, the fairway on 9. From there, it’s tough — you know, I didn’t have good angles either. Then obviously you start missing it just off the edges of these greens, it gets tricky.
“Yeah, I felt like I was good. I made that birdie on 5 to get back on par after the soft bogey on 4, then I just got on that bogey train at the end.”
What’s going on off the tee?
“I kind of get it, like I miss it, and then I want to try to make it right,” McIlroy said. “And then I’ll overshoot and miss to the left. It’s a little bit back and forth that way. So that’s very frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball well.
“I just have to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I was going to figure it out. Coming in here, I hit it good Sunday at Quail Hollow, and then I hit it good at home on Monday. Then … I hit it good yesterday.
“It’s just that once I get under the gun, I just find that it starts to bother me a little bit.”
it Was Aronimink himself after McIlroy’s game? It might have been. Some players have struggled. The leaders are only on three-under.
“I didn’t expect it to be as windy as it was today,” McIlroy said. “I think it’s the wind conditions that make the score what it is. It’s hard to get the ball close. Some of the pins are wrapped. You have — say you have a wrapped pin on the left side of the green and the wind is coming from the left, it’s hard to get it there.
“Probably just seeing a lot of guys hit it 20 and 30 feet. They’re good shots. It’s just hard to make a lot of those shots.”
But what do you want? McIlroy describe his opening round?
At his press conference, he was asked that very question by moderator Greg Dillard.
