Rory McIlroy unimpressed by his start to the US PGA Championship

By Scott Hunt, Press Association, Philadelphia

Rory McIlroy labelled his opening round of the US PGA Championship as s*** after he finished with four successive bogeys.

The 37-year-old was among the early starters at Aronimink Golf Club in south-west Philadelphia and appeared to have steadied the ship after an opening bogey.

He hit back with a birdie before reeling off 10 straight pars. But his back nine – the first nine on the course – decimated his round with five bogeys and a solitary birdie leaving him four over par.

Asked to describe his round, McIlroy said: “S***.

“I started missing fairways. I missed the fairway right on four, the fairway right on six, the fairway right on seven, fairway right on nine.

“I made that birdie on five to get back to even-par after the soft bogey on four, then I just got on that bogey train at the end.

“I’m just not driving the ball well enough. It’s been a problem all year for the most part. I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out.

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

McIlroy is chasing a seventh major win after defending his Masters title last month. He had to cut short his first practice round here due to a troublesome toe issue, but confirmed that it did not affect him.

The Northern Irishman had said he felt the course was a “bash driver down, figure it out” course but a number of players came unstuck when missing the fairway.

McIlroy admitted being wayward was more penalising than he thought.

“There certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway. Probably more than what I anticipated after being here, whatever it is, two Fridays ago,” McIlroy said.

Is this the week? 👀🏆

Jordan Spieth pulls level at the top of the leaderboard in his pursuit of the career Grand Slam.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/VKmMbWL2bx

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 14, 2026

McIlroy had huge support from the vast galleries following his eye-catching group, which also featured Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth – the latter chasing a win here to complete the career grand slam.

Spieth and Rahm both finished their rounds on one under par.

The Spaniard had an up and down time but a pitch in for an eagle and a chip-in birdie on the back nine helped lift his spirits.

Pre-tournament talk that Aronimink would not trouble the world’s best golfers proved unfounded, with the clubhouse lead at only three under when the trio finished their round.

“There was some chatter where people thought 15 to 20 under was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA and they did something about it!” Rahm said.

Jon Rahm chips in at Aronimink. 😤#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/2ZeUUWNhxf

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 14, 2026

“Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.”

Rahm also apologised after hitting a volunteer with a divot during a frustrated swing.

“Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer,” he added.

“I couldn’t feel any worse. That’s why I was there apologizing. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable.”