Rory McIlroy has had a positive response to his Irish Open heartbreak, shooting a first-round 67 at the BMW PGA Championship to leave him in the mix at the top of the leaderboard.
McIlroy is on five-under-par after the first day of action, putting him just one shot back from clubhouse leaders Niklas Norgaard Moller of Denmark and Grant Forrest of Scotland.
However, it was not a day without incident for the four-time Major champion.
As McIlroy attempts to finish what has been a hugely frustrating season on a high, he was met with many challenges on the first day at Wentworth.
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BMW PGA Championship: Bizarre day one at Wentworth
Things were to get tricky for Rory McIlroy at the eighth hole, with the Irishman hitting his second shot right to the edge of the green at the par-four hole.
With a water hazard pinning McIlroy in, he was forced to attempt the putt left-handed. He would impressively hit the putt to within six feet, from where he would save par.
Watch Rory McIlroy using his putter BACKWARDS! 😅 pic.twitter.com/RqlY4Rlo6C
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) September 19, 2024
That was only the beginning of the chaos for Rory McIlroy at Wentworth.
Four holes later, an utterly bizarre scene would play out at the par-five 12th. With his second shot, McIlroy took aim at the green with typical venom. He - and the crowds and commentators - were left stunned as a second projectile followed the ball.
The club head would split apart from McIlroy's iron, and flew down the fairway as he stood in disbelief tracking its progress rather than the ball's.
"I've never seen that in person!" 😮
Rory McIlroy's club head goes FLYING down the fairway! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ObCaH3wn3Q— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) September 19, 2024
Incredibly, even with his split club to contend with, McIlroy nearly holed the pitch - leaving it at eight feet - and ultimately birdied the hole.
Speaking after his round, McIlroy said that it was a type of incident that had never happened to him before. He even said that he had been taken aback by the site of the club head flying down the fairway, completely losing track of the ball.
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. 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.
It took only four holes for the club to be repaired, with McIlroy able to use it once again from the 16th.
I got it repaired and had it back on 16. Thankfully didn’t need it for any of the holes in between.
A remarkable photo captured by the DP World Tour account captured the instant McIlroy's club head snapped off.
Rory McIlroy's club head flying off 📸#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/bHfTOjqV4p
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 19, 2024
Despite the antics at eight and 12, McIlroy finished with an impressive 67, which could have been 66 bar a disappointing bogey at the last.
At the time of writing, that placed McIlroy in a tie for 3rd alongside Matteo Manassero, Matthew Baldwin, Robert MacIntyre, Ugo Coussaud, Victor Perez, and his fellow Irishman Shane Lowry. That group are just one shot back from tied leaders Nicklas Norgaard Muller and Grant Forrest.
Last weekend saw heartbreak for Rory McIlroy on home soil at the Irish Open.
Playing in his native County Down, McIlroy at one stage held a four-shot lead on the final day, before a late charge by Rasmus Hojgaard, coupled with a poor birdie at 17, saw victory slip through McIlroy's grasp.
The Irishman tasted similar disappointment at the US Open, as well as at the Olympic Games in Paris, amid what has been a successful yet disappointing season for the world number 3.
McIlroy is right in the mix after day one this weekend, however, and will hope that this tournament might just go differently than those which came before. He previously won this tournament in 2014.
Rory McIlroy will tee off at 12:25pm on Friday.
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