You may have heard that Rory McIlroy posted an eye-catching 60 during the pre-tournament Pro-Am ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.
“I wish it was on a Thursday and not on a Wednesday,” he said with a wry smile as he began the main event over the West Course yesterday with a three-under 69 which left him three behind early leaders, Aaron Rai and Joakim Lagergren.
The carefree, hit-and-giggle of a celebrity-infused Pro-Am is a slightly different kettle of fish to the cut-and-thrust of the actual competition, of course. There’s less gleaming tooth enamel on show for a start
At the halfway point of his opening round at Wentworth, though, you could’ve forgiven McIlroy for beaming like a cat that had commandeered the dairy let alone the cream.
The reigning Masters champion was five-under through 10 holes and jollying along quite the thing. Three bogeys on his back-nine as the wind picked up, though, wiped the smile from his face.
“A stumble home,” he added with a slight grimace. “Any time you play like that (the 60), whether it's in practice or a competitive round, you have to take some confidence from it.
“I saw some putts going in. I felt better with the putter than I did last week. I brought that feeling for the most part into today and I’m a bit disappointed with the way I finished. But it’s still a good score to build on and there were some very good signs.”
There were plenty of good signs for Rai, who accompanied McIlroy and Open champion Ryan Fox in one of the marquee groupings.
Now a major champion – he made a breathtaking breakthrough at the US PGA Championship earlier this season – the Wolverhampton man put on a display of poise and purpose and birdied four of his opening six holes en route to a 66.
“I felt like I got into the round fast and just kept the momentum going,” was Rai’s simple summing up of the day.
Lagergren’s 66 was illuminated by a putt of 22-feet for an eagle on the 12th as he hoisted himself to the summit in the DP World Tour’s flagship event.
“I feel like I wasn't at my best today, if that's okay to say after a minus six round,” admitted Lagergren. “I feel like I have still work to do.”
This endlessly fascinating game is always a work in progress, isn’t it? Or, in this correspondent’s case, a work in regress.
On a day which saw Jon Rahm finish near the foot of the standings after a 78 that was strewn with debris, Adam Scott, the evergreen 46-year-old, kept himself on the straight and narrow with a five-under 67 to lurk just a shot off the pace.
“That is the key to Wentworth,” he said of his solid driving from the tee. “If you're in the fairway, you can create some opportunities. If you're not, it's a long day out there.”
Patrick Reed, the Race to Dubai leader, joined Fox and Viktor Hovland on four-under.
For the Scots, it was, by and large, a decent day. Robert MacIntyre, the nation’s standard bearer on the global stage, tucked himself in among the frontrunners with a tidy four-under 68.
The 30-year-old, whose best finish in eight previous appearances in this neck of the woods was a tie for 12th in 2024, polished off his opening round with tap-in birdies on the closing par-fives at 17 and 18. It was a good shift at the office.
Ewen Ferguson, the triple DP World Tour champion from Bearsden, packed six birdies into his three-under 69 as he finished alongside his fellow Scot, David Law.
As the regular season tick-tocks down to a conclusion – there are just five events to play after this – Law is seeking the big result that will safeguard his place at the top table.
The 35-year-old lost his full playing rights a couple of seasons ago but bounced back at the first attempt with two wins on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour last year which earned him promotion.
At 108th on the rankings, Law needs to hoist himself into the top 100 by the end of the campaign to secure his tour card. With a prize fund of $9 million this week, there’s plenty to play for.
Law, who finished on the fringes of the top-20 in the Irish Open last weekend, made the most the West Course’s par-fives and birdied all four of them to finish in the upper reaches.
Calum Hill, meanwhile, burst out of the traps with four birdies in his first six holes but a triple-bogey on the seventh took the wind out of his sails. The West Course can do that to you.
