Rory McIlroy rediscovers his drive at the BMW Championship
The Northern Irishman thrashed a brilliant 8-under-par 64 to end the first round in a share of the lead with Sam Burns and Jon Rahm.
Rory McIlroy is good from the tee box.
"I went home to Florida after The Northern Trust on Monday night," he explained after tying Sam Burns and Jon Rahm for the first round lead. "I went into the garage and rummaged through a few different things."
If most of us had a rummage in the garage we might find a reckless purchase from the garden centre or a match day programme from the 1980s. McIlroy discovered something more substantial.
Rory McIlroy: 13 of 14 fairways hit today, his most in a PGA Tour round in more than 5 years (final round of 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational, also 13/14).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) August 26, 2021
Let's take a quick look at McIlroy's past performance from this sort of position and what his fellow leaders had to say.
McIlroy's stats
So he's found 13 of 14 fairways, biffing it with the driver, and the approach work is so-so. What happens if he doesn't find so much short grass? Add in the difficulty of repeating and maybe he's worth taking on in round two? Playing partner Sungjae Im carded a 67 in round one.
Jon Rahm on the secret to rebounding from a bad round
"For all those Ted Lasso fans out there, be a goldfish. If you haven't seen the show, you've just got to check it out. I feel like almost everybody knows. Have you seen the show? Basically the happiest animal in the world is a goldfish. You know why? He's got a 10-second memory. The best goldfish out here? Oh, without a doubt Dustin Johnson. He has the ability to forget unfortunate moments better than anyone else."
Another week, another co-lead for @JonRahmPGA.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 26, 2021
Today @BMWChamps marks his eighth consecutive round in the 60s. pic.twitter.com/e1oVUWsY1E
Sam Burns on his caddie's smart
"We had a good plan coming into today. (My caddie) Travis and I talked about it. Really just it was nice being able to touch it in the fairway and then just trying to put it in the right spot on the green. I think that's the biggest thing around this place: the greens are big but you can have 20 feet and still have it breaking six feet, so trying to avoid those areas, give ourselves the easiest putt, and we were able to make them.