Rory McIlroy made 17 straight pars and one birdie on his return to PGA Tour action following his successful defence of The Masters at the Truist Championship, to card a one-under par 70. The Northern Irishman has fond memories of playing at Quail Hollow, having won this event four times in the past. During his first victory in 2010, McIlroy made 25 birdies across all four rounds, but today he had to wait 17 holes for his breakthrough.
McIlroy produced a near-flawless round, before draining a long lag putt on the 18th to make birdie and post a final first-round score of 70. Had he not made birdie, it would have been the first time in his PGA Tour career that McIlroy had made 18 straight pars.
However, his putting let him down, with McIlroy missing multiple chances for birdie, notably sliding a right-to-left putt on the 12th wide, before sending another wide on hole 13.”I wasn’t frustrated, I was hitting good putts,” McIlroy said. “Some days they just don’t want to go in.
“I was just trying to stay patient because I felt like I was hitting good putts, I overread a couple on the front side.
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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, acknowledges the gallery on the 18th hole during first round of the Truist Championship
“Then I under-read a couple as a reaction to the over-reads. It was more of a read thing. I was starting the ball on my line and hitting good putts. I just needed to figure out the reads a little bit better. But sort of felt like I got into it by the end of the round.”
After holing out on 18, McIlroy raised his arms in the air to celebrate finally draining a putt.”It was just nice to see one go in at the end, something to build off,” he added.”I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie. I think I was just trying to make one. I felt like I didn’t make birdie at 7 or 8, so I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there at the last.”American Matt McCarty finished top of the leaderboard with an opening round of eight-under par 64. A chasing pack that includes European players Kristoffer Reitan, Harry Hall, Nicolai Højgaard and Sepp Straka, all trail him at five-under.Fleetwood gets off to a flying start
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2026-05-07 23:36:00
