McIlroy opens BMW PGA with battling 69 despite driving woes

Rory McIlroy opened the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth with a 3-under-par 69, battling inconsistent driving to take an early lead. The world number two and reigning Race to Dubai champion started strongly, birdieing two of his first three holes and completing his opening nine with a hat trick of birdies to reach 5 under and top the leaderboard. However, McIlroy found just two of seven fairways on the back nine, relying on sharp wedge play and a hot putter to maintain his position. His struggles continued on the front nine, where errant drives led to bogeys on the third and sixth holes. After finding a difficult lie on the eighth, he took an aggressive line over water and found the hazard, limiting the damage with an up-and-down from the drop zone. "I started very strong, five under through 10, and I started hitting a few loose shots on the way in," McIlroy said. "Loose drive on three, loose drive on four that I actually got away with, then another one on seven, but it started to get a little tricky there at the end." The opening round followed a notable Pro-Am performance where McIlroy shot a 12-under 60, playing a 10-hole stretch in 11 under with nine birdies and an eagle.