Rory McIlroy has a bad finish for a rough start at the PGA Championship
May 14, 2026; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; Rory McIlroy watches his shot from the 15th tee during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images James Lang/James Lang-Imagn Images The blister on Rory McIlroy’s right pinky toe was the least of his worries Thursday in the PGA Championship. And it certainly didn’t cause him as much pain as staring a scorecard that featured five bogeys over his last six holes.
He struggled mightily off the tee, a recipe for trouble at Aronimink. He was tentative over his putts, with three misses from the 7-foot range that could have made him feel a lot better. The result was a 4-over 74 that left McIlroy chasing the wrong kind of history as the Masters champion goes for the second leg of the calendar Grand Slam.
Not since the late Payne Stewart in 1989 has a player started the PGA Championship with a 74 and gone on to win. The question by a PGA of America moderator when it was over sounded innocuous: “How would you describe your opening round? ” The response was one word.
A four-letter stinky word. McIlroy had said earlier this week at Aronimink that “strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent. It’s basically bash driver down there and then figure it out from there.
” He never quite figured it out Thursday. McIlroy was hanging around par for so much of the day, right there with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm in his group, not bad golf given the testing conditions at Aronimink. But he started missing fairways — a lot of them.