Rory McIlroy has dream start, Tiger Woods slips

TULSA (Oklahoma), May 19

Rory McIlroy got the dream start that has eluded him at recent Majors to grab the first-round lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday, outshining the two other members of his ‘super group’ Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.

While Woods (74) and Spieth (72) laboured, McIlroy made it look all too easy at Southern Hills Country Club by carding a 5-under 65, his best opening round at a Major since the 2011 US Open. That was good enough for a one-stroke advantage over Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge, with Matt Kuchar, Justin Thomas and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer returning 67s to sit two adrift.

Starting on the back nine, McIlroy’s day featured a stretch of four straight birdies from the 12th, his longest such run at a Major, and he added two more after the turn before picking up bogeys at the sixth and eighth. He ended on an upbeat note by rolling in a 19-footer for birdie at the last. — Reuters

Lahiri lies T-78th

Tulsa (Oklahoma): With a double-bogey midway through the second nine spoiling his card, India’s Anirban Lahiri carded a 3-over 73 that placed him tied-78th after the first round of the PGA Championship. Lahiri had a bogey to start the day on the 10th before he made amends with a birdie on the 11th. Ten pars followed leaving him even-par after 12 holes, though he missed birdie putts inside 7ft and three inside 10-11ft. Scoring wasn’t easy, so pars were some consolation for the Indian.