Rory McIlroy might be the king of Quail Hollow, but in the first round of the Truist Championship, his happy place was more like purgatory.
McIlroy returned to PGA Tour play for the first time since winning his second straight Masters, and the two-time green jacket winner clearly had to shake off some rust. Despite having four wins and the course record at Quail Hollow, McIlroy couldn’t buy a birdie in Round 1.
In fact, McIlroy set a new career “record” by recording nothing but pars for the first 17 holes of his round. It was the first time he has done so in his career, breaking his previous record of 15 straight pars to begin a round, according to the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy Endures Near-Historic Par Run at Truist Championship
McIlrory actually came quite close to making 18 pars in 18 holes. The world No. 2 finally carded a circle on the final hole of the day, depsite putting his tee shot in the rough on 539-yard, par-4 18th. After muscling one out of the rough, McIlroy was able to drain a 15-foot birdie to salvage something of the day.
According to PGATour.com, if McIlroy had missed the birdie putt, it would have been just the eighth round in his illustrious career in which he failed to make a birdie.
McIlroy, who spoke earlier this week about how motivated he feels after another Augusta conquest, isn’t sweating the lack of red numbers to open his PGA Championship tune-up.
“I wasn’t frustrated, I was hitting good putts,” he told reporters after the round. “Some days they just don’t want to go in. No, I wasn’t, I was just trying to stay patient because felt like I was hitting good putts, I over read a couple on the front side. Then I under read a couple as a reaction to the over reads.
“I was just sort of trying to — it was more of a read thing than — I was starting the ball on my line and hitting good putts. I just needed to figure out the reads a little bit better. But sort of felt like I got into it by the end of the round.”
McIlroy Likely Has Eyes on PGA Championship
With $20 million up for grabs and a winner’s share of $3.6 million at stake, most players might be worried about turning things around for the weekend. McIlroy would probably like another Quail Hollow conquest, but the bigger emphasis for his final 54 holes is likely getting right for the PGA Championship.
Only Scottie Scheffler (4-1) has shorter odds than McIlroy, who is +850 to win his third Wannamaker Trophy next week at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
McIlroy hasn’t won the PGA Championship since holding of Phil Mickelson all the way back in 2014. He really hasn’t even contended for the title since that win. While ha hasn’t missed the cut at the PGA since 2016, it does not appear to be his fourth-best major. McIlroy has two top-10 finishes since 2022, but he has also failed to break the top 30 three times since 2020.
The two most recent PGA Championship winners — Scheffler and Xander Schauffele — won with scores of 11-under and 21-under, respectively, so McIlroy will need to regain his ability to go low before teeing it up in Philly.
Rory McIlroy Sets Bizarre Personal ‘Record’ Ahead of PGA Championship