Rory McIlroy experienced an up-and-down Moving Day, and although he posted a very good score on the first half of the round, he “only” managed a 68, three shots under par. He was unable to close the gap on the leader of the PGA Championship 2024 by much, so he will have to hope for a miracle in the final to have a chance of winning.
PGA Championship 2024
Rory McIlroy’s start on Moving Day was a little bumpy. The Northern Irishman was shaken awake by a bogey on his very first hole, the par 4-1. What followed was a race to catch up, as we know it from McIlroy. A birdie on the 4th was followed by a birdie series of four birdies and thus a rise up the leaderboard. He suffered a setback on the par-3 14th when his tee shot clearly missed the green and McIlroy only sank the ball in the hole with his fourth shot. Another bogey followed on hole 16, but McIlroy still managed a conciliatory finish when he managed a final stroke gain on the final hole.
Rory McIlroy: “I may rue that six-hole stretch where I wasn’t able to hole any putts”
Rory McIlroy sums up after the round: “Yeah, really got it going around the turn there to get to 4-under, and then I kept hitting good shots and had good looks at 11, 12 and 13, 15. Then I made two bogeys with a missed putt on 14, a three-putt. Yeah, there was a six-hole stretch there, seven-hole stretch where just sort of the putter cooled on me. Depending on what happens tomorrow, that’s sort of the – if I look back on the tournament, I may rue that six-hole stretch where I wasn’t able to hole any putts.” Nevertheless, he is confident: “I have to go out there and try to shoot a low one. I putted really well on Thursday, and then just the last couple days it’s sort of deserted me. Yeah, I need the putter to sort of heat up again, and with everything else it’s doing, there’s certainly another low one in me.”