Rory McIlroy is hoping his best round at Wentworth didn’t come a day too soon.
After putting together a 60 during Wednesday’s pro-am at the BMW PGA Championship, the world’s No. 2-ranked player posted a 3-under 69 in his opening round that included a three birdie stretch on holes Nos. 16 through 18.
Also positive was McIlroy’s putter which helped him birdie all four of the course’s par-5s on Thursday. While his driver went a bit wayward down the stretch, he still got into the clubhouse just three shots off Aaron Rai and Joakim Lagergren’s co-lead.
Encouraging signs? Yes. Work to be done? Always.
“Whenever you’re seeing good signs whether it be in practice or in pro-ams, it can give you confidence to go out and know that you’re swinging well and you’re hitting the shots you want to hit and holing a few putts,” said McIlroy, who won this tournament in 2014. “Anytime you play like that — and you string together nine birdies and an eagle over 10 holes — you know you’re doing something right. Unfortunately, it was on a Wednesday and not a Thursday.”
At the pro-am, McIlroy birdied the par-4 third hole and eagled the next to start a run where he recorded eight straight circles.
He bogeyed that same par-4 on Thursday — one of three squares on his card that limited him from going lower on the tournament’s opening round.
“I certainly saw some improvements on the greens compared to last week,” he said. “I feel like I could have been a couple better at least but a 69 isn’t a bad score to start with. I said last week in Ireland, I see encouraging signs in my game and it’s just a matter of sticking with it, sticking with some of the feels I’ve got in my swing.”
McIlroy finished T-41 at the Irish Open last week, where he saw close friend Shane Lowry dominate the field to win his national tournament and Patrick Reed gain separation in the Race to Dubai standings.
Reed is No. 1, with McIlroy trailing him by 841 points. The 2018 Masters winner is in the clubhouse with a 4-under 68, sitting T-4 with five others.
“Obviously this week is a really big week, there’s a lot of points on offer,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t have the greatest of weeks last week and Patrick (Reed) played well so I dropped a little bit further behind him.”
