Rory McIlroy described his opening round of the US PGA Championship as 's***' after finishing with four successive bogeys. The Northern Irishman, playing alongside Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, struggled to close out his day at Aronimink Golf Club, ending at 4-over par with only two birdies overall. His bid for back-to-back major titles now looks like a battle to make the cut.
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm apologised after hitting a volunteer with a divot during a frustrated swing on the 7th hole. 'Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer,' Rahm said. 'I couldn’t feel any worse. That’s why I was there apologising. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable.'
As of 11pm Thursday, Ryo Hisatsune, Stephan Jaeger, Min-Woo Lee and Aldrich Potgieter share the lead at 3-under par. Garrick Higgo also criticised a two-shot penalty for being late to his tee time, saying he felt he had enough time but was called to the tee sooner than expected. 'I don't think I said anything, I was going to tee off in a couple of seconds,' Higgo told Sky Sports.
