Rory McIlroy leads after first round of 2022 PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy (Ed Balaun, Wikimedia Commons)

Rory McIlroy of Holywood, Northern Ireland is the first round leader of the 2022 PGA Championship from the Southern Hills Championship Course in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On Thursday, in the second major of the 2022 golf season, McIlroy shot a score of five-under-par 65.

In the 18 holes to begin the PGA Championship, McIlroy had seven birdies and two bogeys. He birdied the second, fifth, ninth, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th holes, and bogeyed the sixth and eighth holes. To record four straight birdies on the PGA Tour is impressive. To accomplish the feat at a major is simply sensational.

McIlroy is now -13 in his last two rounds in a major. Remember, he shot a final round score of eight-under-par 64 in the final round of the Masters. McIlroy winded up finishing second behind Masters champion Scottie Scheffler.

Twice before McIlroy has won the PGA Championship. The first title came in 2012 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The second title came in 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. McIlroy has also won two other majors in his career–the 2011 United States Open champion and the 2014 British Open.

Fourteen golfers are in striking distance of McIlroy. Americans Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge are tied at -4 and one stroke back. 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas of the United States, along with American Matt Kuchar and Mexican Abraham Ancer are two back at -3. Then there are nine golfers at -2. There you can find Australians Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereira, along with Americans Chris Kirk, Davis Riley, Xander Schauffele, and Kevin Na.

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