Golf

A broken club, an out of bounds and a backwards putt: Rory McIlroy’s impressive opening round at Wentworth had it all

Shane Lowry satisfied with first round as he is two strokes behind leader at BMW PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after playing his second shot on the 11th hole. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after playing his second shot on the 11th hole. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty
Philip Reid
Thu Sept 19 2024 - 18:36

Truly, never a dull moment is there with Rory McIlroy? An incident-packed opening round to the €8 million flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth saw the world number three hit a backhanded putt, have an 9-iron clubhead fall off on impact with the ball in hitting a shot and also hit a shot out-of-bounds and still manage an opening round five-under-par 67 that put him straight into contention.

As England’s Matthew Baldwin claimed the first round lead with a superb seven-under-par 65, and Shane Lowry again demonstrated his liking for the West Course where he won in 2022 in also moving into contention with a 67 of his own, nobody could match the drama produced by McIlroy.

Of that iron clubhead separating itself from the shaft on the 12th hole, McIlroy recalled: “I don’t think it’s ever happened to me before. Obviously a very weird feeling through impact. I looked up and the club head caught my eye instead of the golf ball. So I completely lost where the golf ball was. I didn’t know where it went.

“But I was just looking somewhere around the green and saw the ball fall just right of the pin and go up there and go pretty close. Fortunately, it didn’t impact the shot too much. But I got it repaired and had it back on 16. Thankfully I didn’t need it for any of the holes in between.”

READ MORE

That was just one of a number of strange and wonderful things in his round of seven birdies – including a run of four straight from the third to the sixth – and two bogeys.

On the eighth, where his approach finished on the collar of the green close to the water hazard, McIlroy opted to use his putter back handed – “I didn’t really have a stance hitting it right-handed. Hit a left-handed putt. Did a decent job. At least I got the speed pretty much correct. I didn’t get the line right, but knocked that one in, made par and very swiftly moved to the 9th tee, pretty happy” – to save par, and then hit his approach to the 18th out of bound but limited the damage to a closing bogey.

McIlroy, currently leading the Race to Dubai order of merit and looking to bounce back from the disappointment of his runner-up finish to Rasmus Hojgaard in last week’s Amgen Irish Open, admitted:

“[The BMW PGA is] one of the best that we play throughout the calendar year. It’s important in the overall scheme of any year because of where I find myself in the Race to Dubai. I’m trying to win that for the sixth time, and what that would mean to me, being alongside Seve [Ballesteros] and keeping closer to Monty [eight-time winner Colin Montgomerie] and all that stuff. It’s a big tournament in that regard, and obviously a big tournament to try to be as resilient as possible after last week and move on.

“The nice thing about disappointments [following Royal County Down] is that if you have something this next week, it’s nice to keep busy and keep your mind focused on something else,” added McIlroy.

Lowry, too, moved into contention with a 67 that featured an eagle, four birdies and a lone bogey to join McIlroy: “I’m pretty happy. To be honest I feel like Thursday has come around quick this week. An alarm went off at 5.00 this morning, it was a bit early. But I got out there and I played some great golf again, and it’s nice to come to a place that you know pretty well and I’ve done well in the past. I feel pretty comfortable around here, so I’m happy with that.”

Tom McKibbin overcame a shaky start, which had him two-over through eight holes, to respond brilliantly with a run of four successive birdies (from the ninth to 12th) to sign for a two-under-par 70, while Pádraig Harrington’s steady round was rewarded with a birdie on the 18th for a one-under 71.

Baldwin, ranked 363rd in the world and currently 99th on the R2D order of merit, has one tour win – the SDC Championship in South Africa – on the DP World Tour and claimed a new mental approach had held him move to the top of the leaderboard. “I had a focus point of trying to make a good strike on the golf ball and take it from there,” he said.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times