US PGA Championship 2014: Rory McIlroy shows he’s in mood to become a hat-trick hero

 
Fast start: Aside from a mid-round blip, Rory McIlroy impressed in the opening round of the US PGA
David Cannon/Getty Images
Kevin Garside8 August 2014

As welcome as Lee Westwood’s first round 65 was, good enough to share the overnight lead at the US PGA Championship, he must have gone to his bed full of dread after watching Rory McIlroy arrive at his shoulder late in the day.

Westwood does not go out until late afternoon here at at Valhalla, around the same time as McIlroy will be signing his card after round two. If he hits the ball as sweetly today McIlroy could be unreachable by then.

He was pegged to a 66 thanks only to a cart track that bounced his approach to the par-five 10th out of bounds. It was, he said, his first bad shot in weeks and resulted not only in a double bogey but a further dropped shot at the next as his brain smouldered with frustration.

But this is not the McIlroy of a year ago, or even six months. This is an entirely new animal, a three-time Major winner at 25 playing a brand of golf beyond the reach of any. He would have unravelled at any point in 2013 after a blow like that. Not now.

McIlroy’s stats read like science fiction; average driving distance 327 yards, 85 per cent fairways hit. It’s hard to lose playing like that, as his back-to-back victories at the Open and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational demonstrate.

And yes he fancies his chances of the hat-trick here. “One of the big things for me in Major championships is to get off to good starts. If you look at my three wins I have always got off to a good start and it was important to do that today. Hopefully, I can continue to be up there for the rest of the tournament.”

Hopefully, indeed. There is no need for false modesty, Rory. Westwood is just happy to be in the mix after an awful 12 months since blowing a three-shot lead with 12 to play on the final day of the Open at Muirfield.

He arrived at the Bridgestone last week on the back of four consecutive missed cuts and though his game was coming around on the range, there was no sign of it on the pitch until that final round 63 in Akron. And then a round like yesterday that finished with four birdies on the spin, including a snaking 30-footer for birdie at the last.

“I started to feel like my swing was coming around,” he said. “I had Mike [Walker, coach] down at Old Palm the Monday before last and we did some work. That tends to be when I do my best work, on the range away from tournaments, and I started to hit it well, got a few good feelings in my swing.

“It was very frustrating the first three days at Firestone. I played a lot better than the scores were showing, so it was nice to shoot 63 on Sunday and turn good swing and good technique into a good score. That gave me some confidence coming into this week.”

The week might not last much longer for Tiger Woods, who needed all his fighting spirit to limit the damage to a three-over-par 74. That was good enough for a tie of 109th spot. Since he is an afternoon starter two groups behind Westwood, it might be better not to look at the scores before he starts out.

Woods was outscored by America’s Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, who carded 17 pars and one bogey in his round of 72. Watson might consider picking himself at Gleneagles next month. Indeed he might have to after defending champion Jason Dufner added to America’s woe by withdrawing here with a bulging disc in his neck.

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