The European Tour needed a headliner this week for its flagship tournament and Rory McIlroy obliged.
McIlroy, who has slipped to No. 8 in the world, desperately needs a good showing as well.
He came through Thursday at Wentworth in a big way with seven birdies and an opening round of 67 at the BMW PGA Championship.
“I played well,” McIlroy said. “I played a lot better today than I have done the last couple of weeks so it’s a good step in the right direction. I think I did everything pretty well. I drove the ball much better and put the ball in play off the tee a lot more than I’ve done the last couple of weeks, so that’s been really good. I thought I gave myself a lot of chances and I took most of them. A little frustrated I couldn’t get a birdie or two out of the last couple of holes but, overall, a really good start.”
The last couple of holes McIlroy referred to are the back-to-back par fives that are the 17th and 18th at the famous Wentworth Club. McIlroy failed to birdie either one.
His start, however, left him just two back of first round leader Lucas Bjerregaard from Norway.
Alex Noren, the defending champion, played with McIlroy and a bogey-birdie finish got him into the house with 69.
Bjerregaard is a surprise leader, he’s not performed well at Wentworth in the past.
“I’ve not had much success around this place but played lovely today,” he said. “I hit it pretty well off the tee. I hit a couple of loose shots in the end but managed to get up and down a couple of times, all in all I didn’t do much wrong. It’s quite important to hit it straight and I felt like I did that. I put myself in a lot of good spots and left myself with a few short irons and took advantage of that.
“I’m just pleased that my form from the last few weeks seems to continue and hopefully I can keep doing some of the same stuff the rest of the week.”
