Rory McIlroy may still be looking to win his first major since 2014, but he has achieved a new first at the The Travelers Championship.
Following McIlroy's disappointment at the US Open, the Northern Irishman is competing in Cromwell, Connecticut, alongside many of the pros that featured in the major last week. McIlroy may be a way off the lead on day one, but he hit his first-ever PGA Tour hole-in-one and it clearly meant the world to him.
McIlroy went into Thursday fresh off the back of his latest major disappointment after being edged to the US Open title by one stroke. He could have been forgiven for having some emotional hangover from that result, but a hole-in-one was the perfect tonic.
And his reaction showed that he is back to enjoying himself on the course despite the pressure to win another major mounting. With The Open just around the corner, McIlroy will hope it is a spark towards a fresh bid for a big win.
The big moment came on the eighth hole, and McIlroy hit a 214 yard tee shot straight into the hole on a par-three. McIlroy celebrated as if he'd won the tournament, even though it only sent him from one over to one under par for the round. He eventually finished the round two-under-par.
Denny McCarthy and Adam Scott are currently leading the way with nine-under-par, but there's still a long way to go in the competition. McIlroy confirmed his plans to play in The Travelers Championship and then one final event in Scottish Open before taking a two-week break.
"Yeah, I'll play Travelers [Championship] next week, I'll play the Scottish Open, but I'm focused on making sure that I'm ready to go for Liverpool." Royal Liverpool is the first major of the season, and it's one that McIlroy will want to win after years of close shaves.
However, McIlroy doesn't mind remaining patient for his fifth career major win, and expects it to come "sooner or later" if he sticks to his game. "I'm getting closer," McIlroy revealed. "The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it's going to happen for me.
"When I do finally win this next major, it's going to be really, really sweet. I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship."
McIlroy perhaps should have won the US Open last weekend, but couldn't quite get his putting right on the final day of the competition, and Wyndham Clark held on. "I think the putter, I'll rue some of the chances that I missed," McIlroy said when evaluating his US Open.
"It was hard to get the ball really close all day. It was that and that wedge shot on 14, coming up a little short, those are the things I'll rue today." His putting was also not up to scratch on day one of The Travelers Championship, but hitting a hole-in-one removed the need.
