Rory McIlroy Cuts A Frustrated Figure After Four-Over Opening Round At PGA Championship

In his first Major start since bagging back-to-back Masters titles, Rory McIlroy has suffered a disappointing first round at the PGA Championship.

Going into the event, McIlroy endured pain in his toe and had to cut his practice round short on Tuesday. Still, he stepped up on Thursday ready to make an impact at Aronimink, but things did not go to plan.

While the World No. 2 shot level-par on the back nine, it was his front nine that really let him down and left him frustrated at the end of day one.

McIlroy recorded a four-over score for the day after six bogeys and just two birdies in a very difficult round to start the PGA Championship.

The 37-year-old bogeyed the fourth hole, before bouncing back with a birdie on the fifth. However, he then recorded bogeys on holes six through 10 and saw himself tumble down the leaderboard.

As things stand, The Masters champion is T126th and sits seven shots off the lead going into the second day.

Clearly, McIlroy was not happy with his display, but, he was also unimpressed with patrons at Aronimink who were making noises while he was swinging on the edge of the green on the 13th.

After taking his shot, McIlroy turned to the crowd and said: "With your camera, just [do it] after we hit. Thank you."

Speaking to the media after concluding his round, McIlroy did not hold back when looking back on his performance, which he described as "s***".

Asked to elaborate, McIlroy added: "I started missing fairways. I missed the fairway right on four, the fairway right on six, the fairway right on seven, fairway right on nine. From there, it's hard.

"Then obviously you start missing it just off the edges of these greens, it gets tricky... I made that birdie on five to get back to even-par after the soft bogey on four, then I just got on that bogey train at the end."

McIlroy went on to highlight his driver as one of the big issues, stating: "I'm just not driving the ball well enough. It's been a problem all year for the most part... That's pretty frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball well.

"I honestly thought I'd figured it out. Coming in here, I hit it well on Sunday at Quail Hollow, and then hit it good at home on Monday... Just once I get under the gun, it just seems like it starts to go a little bit wayward on me."