Rory McIlroy had a clear target in mind as he looked to boost his bid for a second Open Championship victory at Royal Liverpool on Friday.
McIlroy recovered from a slow start to card an opening level-par 71 to trail Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo and South African amateur Christo Lamprecht by five shots after day one.
The world number two, who lifted the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014, was two over par after 13 holes before making birdies on the 14th and 15th and a crucial par on the 18th after needing two shots to escape a greenside bunker.
“It was a really good par in the end,” McIlroy said. “I got lucky because that ball could have gone into a deeper part of my footprints and I could have been there all night.
“I could have let that round get away from me, but I didn’t with the two birdies on the back nine. I need to shoot something in the 60s and I will be right there for the weekend.”
Fleetwood had earlier ridden a wave of home support as he carded six birdies and a bogey in a five-under-par 66.
“It really was a great day,” the 32-year-old from Southport said. “To get that support all day was amazing. If you’re not going to enjoy this atmosphere and these experiences then what’s the point? Make sure you have the time of your life out there.”
Shot of the dayAustria’s Sepp Straka plays mainly on the PGA Tour but showed he has the imagination to thrive on links courses with a deft chip on the 18th.
Round of the dayThree players shot 66, but the nod goes to 22-year-old amateur Lamprecht for an impressive performance on his Open debut.
Quote of the dayAs one of his sponsors is an American airline, Stewart Cink had to be diplomatic about his travel woes on the way to Hoylake.
Statistic of the dayEasiest holeThe par-five fifth played fractionally easier than the 15th, giving up two eagles and 72 birdies for a scoring average of 4.673.
Hardest holeThe 507-yard 10th hole is a par five for the members but a par four for the Open and played predictably difficult, yielding just 13 birdies and playing to an average of 4.346.
Weather forecastTurning cloudy with a chance of showers on Friday morning. Drier and brighter by the afternoon. Becoming breezy with wind gusting up to 24mph.
Key tee times0635 Rasmus Hojgaard, Matthew Southgate, Alex Fitzpatrick
0958 Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose
1253 Louis Oosthuizen, Joost Luiten, Christo Lamprecht
1404 Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day
1448 Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott
Woods targets second Valhalla success at PGA Championship
Tiger Woods will hope to roll back the clock as the four-time PGA Championship winner aims to repeat the trick at Valhalla Golf Club.
The former world number one has won four of his 15 major titles at this event, including triumphing in the 2000 edition at Valhalla.
Woods managed to make a record-breaking 24th consecutive cut at The Masters last month, though tailed off in the last two rounds to finish 60th – finishing last of players to reach the weekend.
Despite those latter-round struggles, the 48-year-old believes the potential is still there for a 16th major title, with his last coming at Augusta back in 2019.
"I still feel that I can win golf tournaments," Woods said at Tuesday's press conference. "I still feel I can hit the shots and still feel like I still have my hand around the greens and I can putt.
"I just need to do it for all four days, not like I did at Augusta for only two.
"It's getting around that is more of the difficulty that I face day-to-day and the recovery of pushing myself either in practice or in competition days.
"You saw it at Augusta – I was there after two days and didn't do very well on the weekend."
The 2024 Masters was just the fourth time since November 2020 that Woods has completed all four rounds of a tournament, owing to repeated injury struggles.
He remains confident his body will hold up this time around, though, as Woods attempts to recreate his Valhalla-winning heroics from 2000.
"My body's okay," said Woods, who joins Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley for the first round at the PGA Championship on Thursday. "It is what it is. I wish my game was a little bit sharper.
"Again, I don't have a lot of competitive reps, so I am having to rely on my practice sessions and getting stuff done either at home or here on-site.
"At the end of the day, I need to be ready mentally and physically come Thursday.
"One of the reasons I came up here on Sunday was to knock off some of the work that I have to do in charting greens, get all that stuff done early, so I can focus on literally playing and plotting my way around.
"I wouldn't say the walk is that difficult. I know it's a long walk, it's a big piece of property. This is a big golf course and if you get in the rough here, things could get a little bit sore, but if I drive it well and do the things I need to do – what I did 24 years ago – hopefully it works."
Aside from his major plans, speculation continues over Woods captaining Team USA for the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York.
The 15-time major champion says his focus remains on personal performance, with time limited to also fulfil that role.
"We're still talking," Woods added. "There's nothing that has been confirmed yet. We're still working on what that might look like. Also whether or not I have the time to do it."
'Stars aligning' for in-form McIlroy ahead of PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy believes "the stars are aligning" for him as he approaches this week's PGA Championship on the back of a fourth triumph at the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy hauled in leader Xander Schauffele to win in Charlotte with a fine finish to his final round, surging clear with a run of four birdies and two eagles within eight holes.
That saw the Northern Irishman – who also won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2010, 2015 and 2021 – card a six-under 65 as he won by five shots.
Max Homa, in 2019 and 2022, is the only other player to have won the Wells Fargo Championship more than once.
McIlroy has now claimed back-to-back PGA Tour titles, having won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Shane Lowry last month.
With the PGA Championship beginning at Valhalla Golf Club on Thursday, the course where McIlroy captured his last major crown in 2014, he feels he is building up a head of steam.
"I really got some confidence winning in New Orleans with Shane," McIlroy said after his final round.
"Coming into this week, at a golf course I am comfortable with, my golf swing feels more comfortable than it has done.
"Going to a venue next week where I have won, it feels like the stars are aligning a little bit. But I have a lot of golf to play and a lot of great players to try to beat.
"I am going into the next major of the year feeling really good about myself."
Even with a double bogey on the 18th hole, McIlroy played the final 11 holes at six under, leaving Schauffele with no way to respond.
"He's Rory McIlroy, you know?" Schauffele said. "He hits it 350 yards in the air downwind and he has shorter clubs into firm greens than anyone else.
"When he's on, he's on. Hats off to him for winning. He played unbelievably well."
McIlroy: Golf could learn from Northern Ireland peace process
Rory McIlroy has urged professional golf to find a "compromise" to the ongoing rift between the PGA Tour and the breakaway LIV circuit.
The world number two suggested they should follow the example of the Northern Ireland peace process, recalling the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a peace deal that helped to end the Troubles in his homeland.
McIlroy noted the advantages of a deal being reached soon while admitting that both golf tours would have to compromise in the process.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, McIlroy said: "I sort of liken it to like when Northern Ireland went through the peace process in the '90s and the Good Friday Agreement. Neither side was happy.
"Catholics weren't happy, Protestants weren't happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right?
"That was in 1998, and 20, 25, 30 years ahead, my generation doesn't know any different. It's just this is what it's always been like, and we've never known anything but peace.
"That's sort of my little way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here.
"It's probably not going to feel great for either side, but if it's a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again, and we can all get back together, then I think that's ultimately a really good thing."
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