Leaderboard<\/p>\n
-4 Jaeger (9)<\/p>\n
-3 Cauley (8)<\/p>\n
Irish:<\/p>\n
E McIlroy (5)<\/p>\n
+1 Harrington (7)<\/p>\n
+2 McKibbin (9)<\/p>\n
Shane Lowry begins his round at 6.32pm (Irish time)<\/p>\n
Decent approach from McIlroy (E) from the rough from about 180 yards, but a long-ish putt left for birdie. He lags it down excellently to a foot from the hole, solid par on a long par 4.<\/p>\n
Smith (-2) gets the ball back onto the fairway. Alex Fitzpatrick is continuing his good form and is up to -2.<\/p>\n
Here is McIlroy\u2019s only birdie of the day so far:<\/p>\n
David Gorman logging on for the golf coverage to watch poor Cameron Smith (-2) hit a duck hook off the tee on the 18th into some hospitality, absolutely no man\u2019s land. Lucky not to be out of bounds, now getting a ruling of what he can do next. That will slow down the field a bit.<\/p>\n
McIlroy (E) is in the right rough off on the 15th off the tee. A birdie and a bogey so far, four strokes off the early lead of Stephan Jaeger. Starting off the 10th, he has the easier front nine to come though.<\/p>\n
Multiple PGA Tour winner Garrick Higgo has been stroked 2 shots for being late to the tee for his opening round of the PGA Championship. <\/p>\n
He was on the practice putting green but was not within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time.<\/p>\n
Rule 5.3a has been\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Kmtb7u6BTD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n If you thought you were having a bad day, spare a thought for Garrick.<\/p>\n Promise, that\u2019s the last time we\u2019ll ever suggest that McIlroy has brushed away the cobwebs – he\u2019s just pulled a wedge left on 13, landing just short of the bunker. Another shake of the head. And in a rotten few minutes for Ulster, Tom McKibbin has dropped back to +1 after suffering his second bogey of the day.<\/p>\n See, we tempted fate? After a nigh on perfect drive, McIlroy left his approach to the green in or around a mile from the hole. His effort drifted well past, but he made par. A missed opportunity, though, as his shake of the head confirms. Those greens look decidedly tricky. <\/p>\n Not to be tempting fate, or anything, but McIlroy appears to have dusted off the cobwebs – he fires what resembles an Exocet missile down the centre of the 12th fairway (ie his third hole). <\/p>\n As Butch Harmon might put it, \u2018atta boy Rory\u2019 – a birdie at his second, so he\u2019s back to even. Germany\u2019s Stephan Jaeger, meanwhile, is having the kind of start that is the stuff of dreams – he\u2019s -4 after six holes.<\/p>\n Ah now, that\u2019s much more like it from McIlroy – he\u2019s given himself a very decent birdie chance at the 11th (his second), his approach landing within five feet of the hole.<\/p>\n Not the smoothest of starts for McIlroy – that\u2019s a bogey at the first. He had a horrible lie after that wayward drive and ended up with a 12 foot putt for par. Which he missed. Meanwhile, there\u2019s a bogey too for Tom McKibbin at the fifth that sends him back to level par.<\/p>\n A little bit of Masters deja vu there from Rory McIlroy – his opening drive veered right and has landed in an ugly enough looking bit of rough.<\/p>\n Tom McKibbin is one of seven players on -1 after he birdied the first and had a par on the second. Padraig Harrington is about to start his opening round, while Rory McIlroy gets going at 1.40. He\u2019s in a major-laden group too, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm his companions. It\u2019s nine years since Spieth won the last of his three majors, but if he can rediscover that class of form he could yet join golf\u2019s Grand Slam club. Should Rahm prevail come Sunday, he would become the first Spaniard to win the tournament.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Jon Rahm determined to complete Spanish SlamOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n A dream start for Tom McKibbin, the first of the Irish in action today – the LIV man has birdied the first. <\/p>\n Writer and broadcaster Eamon Lynch is keeping mum…. <\/p>\n Earlier this week, our Philip Reid picked out \u2018Five to watch at this week\u2019s US PGA Championship\u2019 – including Shane Lowry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Offaly man had a terrific start to the season and could have had a couple of titles in the bag only for untypical late-round lapses that seemed to work into the psyche with missed cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cA final round of 80 in the Masters then saw him slip from being in contention to a disappointing 30th-place finish… Time heals, though. And Lowry\u2019s last round ahead of the PGA was a bogey-free 65 to close out the Cadillac, so hopefully he has put the demons to bed. The course should suit him too, with a strong requirement on approach play.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Five to watch at this week\u2019s US PGA ChampionshipOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Some start for Alex Fitzpatrick, the Englishman helping himself to birdies in the first two holes. <\/p>\n You have to go all the way back to 2015 for the last time a non-American won this tournament – Australia\u2019s Jason Day. Since then, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka (three times), Justin Thomas (twice), Phil Mickelson, Colin Morikawa and Jimmy Walker have all conspired to keep the Wanamaker Trophy wrapped in the stars and stripes.<\/p>\n Scheffler is aiming to become just the third man to win back-to-back PGA Championships in stroke play, Tiger Woods and Koepka the others to have achieved the feat. By his own lofty standards, though, he\u2019s having a frustrating time of it – he finished runner-up in his last three tournaments, the Masters, the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship. Granted, he collected close to $7 million for those near misses, but you\u2019d imagine Scheffler is more interested in titles than loot this weather. <\/p>\n Good morning golf devotees, we\u2019ll take it that you\u2019re in fine fettle seeing as the second major of the season, the US PGA Championship at Aronimink, is about to get under way? And we can all but hope that Rory McIlroy\u2019s troublesome toe (minus its nail) is in similar condition. <\/p>\n Philip Reid was in attendance when McIlroy insisted that \u201ctoe-gate\u201d had been resolved and that he\u2019s all set to carry on his quest to \u201cachieve what no other man has ever managed: that of winning all of four Majors in the same season\u201d.<\/p>\n