Rory McIlroy found it difficult to be the central character in the drama, even within his own three-ball as he ventured forth – the right foot without its pinky nail no longer an issue – in the first round of the 108th US PGA Championship.
A case in point. The loudest reaction, which came from the endeavours of a group featuring the marquee names of McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm came on the second hole.
Rahm had played up to that point, their 11th hole, with a putter that was colder than the Arctic; but when the Spaniard holed out with a wedge shot from 101 yards for an eagle two, his grumpiness was replaced by a broad grin as Grumpy became Happy and the galleries reacted with wild, guttural roars to his audaciousness.
While Rahm and Spieth exchanged fist bumps in the middle of the fairway, McIlroy was in his own world, alone in a fairway bunker preparing to play his second shot. The roars in his direction had been few and far between, in a round ultimately of 74 strokes where he grinded and grinded until the wheels finally fell off.
McIlroy, on this occasion, was the poor guy of the trio.
