Masters champion Rory McIlroy faces an uphill battle to claim back-to-back major titles after an error-strewn opening round in the 107th US PGA Championship.
McIlroy struggled to a three-over-par 74 to trail clubhouse leaders Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard – a North Carolina native – by eight shots, with Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald surprisingly a shot off the pace alongside Aaron Rai, Ryan Fox, Alex Smalley and Stephan Jaeger.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre were another stroke back on three under, alongside US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Tyrrell Hatton.
McIlroy’s play-off victory over Justin Rose at Augusta National in April had made him just the sixth male golfer to complete a career grand slam and gave him a fifth major title, one behind Sir Nick Faldo.
The world number two was also strongly fancied to equal Faldo’s tally at the first opportunity at Quail Hollow, a venue where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2010 and has since claimed three more victories, including last year.
However, McIlroy, who hit just three fairways in regulation, was fortunate not to find the water with a number of pulled tee shots and unsurprisingly did not speak to the media before heading straight to the range after his round.
McIlroy was among the early starters from the 10th tee and despite missing the fairway and green on the downhill par five, he holed from 10 feet for birdie after a well-judged pitch.
That shot was immediately given back on the next with a disappointing three-putt before a wayward drive on the par-five 15th stopped just a few feet from the water, allowing McIlroy to hit a seven iron just short of the green and two-putt for birdie.
But after pulling another tee shot on the 16th, McIlroy’s back foot slipped as he tried to pitch the ball back into play and he missed the green with his approach on his way to a double bogey matched by playing partners Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
McIlroy almost chipped in for birdie on the 17th before yet another pulled tee shot on the 18th stopped just short of the creek which runs the length of the hole, from where he was able to find the putting surface and make par.
Even when McIlroy found a fairway, as he did on the first, he hit his second shot into a greenside bunker and failed to get up and down, a disappointing round fizzling out with seven straight pars and another bogey on the ninth.
Scheffler and Schauffele both blamed mud on their ball for pulling their second shots into the water on the 16th, but Scheffler battled back to record a two-under-par 69, while Schauffele returned a 72.
Donald, who is ranked 871st in the world and only received an invite due to his status as Ryder Cup captain, had rolled back the years with his 67 – the only bogey-free round of the day – while Fox and Smalley both made the most of their late entries into the event.
Fox secured his place in the field on Sunday by chipping in on the first play-off hole to win his first PGA Tour title in Myrtle Beach, while first alternate Smalley got in on Wednesday afternoon when Sahith Theegala withdrew due to injury.
“I was losing hope after every passing hour and you hear about everybody’s ailments as first alternate, as well,” Smalley said.
“I was prepared to be here all day if I didn’t get in yesterday afternoon or last night. Obviously I feel for Sahith, but it was nice to know before the morning that I was going to play so I could kind of mentally prepare for that.”
