Rory McIlroy

McIlroy circled birdies on five of the first seven holes today. He couldn't maintain that pace but still bettered the field average by more than three shots today. McIlroy tossed together four sub-69 rounds this week at TPC River Highlands but didn't even sniff contention over the weekend. "I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had." The Northern Irishman now has five straight top-10 finishes and has his game trending back toward the winner's circle just in time for the season's final major and the FedExCup Playoffs. 

McIlroy settled for second last week at the U.S. Open but was a bit sloppy today. He swallowed five bogeys but did offset that with five birdies and his first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR. "I had one in Abu Dhabi, I've had one here. They're the only two I've had in competition as a pro. I've had a ton in practice and casual rounds."McIlroy lost more than a stroke off-the-tee today which is incredibly rare for him. He finds himself in a share of 46th place after round one with plenty of room for improvement if his driver returns to his normal standards. 

McIlroy pelted 15 GIR today and led the field in that category for the week. His striking was solid on Sunday but the putter never warmed up. McIlroy lost strokes putting on 12 holes (-1.98 SG:Putting for the round). "I played the way I wanted to play. There was just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round that I'd like to have back." The drought continues for McIlroy who quickly won four majors early in his career but has been stuck on that fourth since the 2014 PGA Championship. What's next for McIlroy? "I'll play Travelers next week, I'll play the Scottish Open, but I'm focused on making sure that I'm ready to go for Liverpool." 

The big hitter stormed out of the gate with back-to-back birdies and three more circles before making the turn. He settled for an even-par homeward nine (still 1.23 shots better than the field). The Ulsterman gained more than two strokes off-the-tee, more than two strokes on approach, and more than two strokes putting. McIlroy's critics have been concerned about him not closing events lately but he has now been T12 or better after 10 of his last 13 rounds played. McIlroy remains on the hunt for his first win at a major title since the 2014 PGA Championship. He remains stuck on those four major wins which came in his first 25 tries. He is now 4-for-57 in terms of winning majors.