The world No. 8 has shot first-round scores of 67 (3 under) in the Wells Fargo Championship, 65 (5 under) at the PGA Championship, and 70 (2 under) last week at the Memorial in three starts since the Masters. McIlroy got off to another strong start at the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday, shooting a 4-under 66 in the first round.
He's had at least one round of 73 or higher in each of the three events before his title defence in Canada (event last played in 2019), yet he's only translated one of those promising starts into a win.
After a Sunday 74 at Muirfield Village, the four-time major champion was eager to play well at St. George's.
This is a fantastic start. "A 66 is a good score around here," McIlroy remarked. "Just because of the rain and how receptive it was, I felt like the course was there to go much lower." Overall, I'm pleased with how the week started, especially after a poor weekend at the Memorial. It felt excellent to get back on track with a good score.
The 2019 RBC Canadian Open champion is third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off the tee this season and has never finished outside the top 10 in that category.
McIlroy trailed the field by a fraction of a stroke off the tee but gained more than three strokes on the greens.
In his first round, the Tour veteran sank over 100 feet of putts and took only 23 strokes with the flat stick to complete the course at St. George's.
McIlroy is three strokes behind Wyndham Clark on the leaderboard.
St. George's is an unusual golf course in that it isn't particularly long – at 7,014 yards this week – yet it requires you to hit less than a driver on several holes.
McIlroy remarked after his first round, "I'll aim to get a driver in my hand as much as possible." "However, there are quite a few gaps out here that it simply does not allow."
McIlroy is typically regarded as one of golf's top drivers, but his putter took him through the first round in Canada.
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