A visual that tells its own tale. Image courtesy PGA Tour/X.
By Rahul Banerji
Four days ago, Rory McIlroy was struggling to put club to ball at the FedEx Cup opener in Memphis, Tennessee.
On Thursday, however, the Northern Irishman was imperious in firing a bogey-free 6 under par 64 in the opening round of the BMW Championship that belied the rust he had displayed at the St Jude Championship.
McIlroy gave a masterclass in ball-striking and finishing to share the lead at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri, with US Open winners Gary Woodland (2019), J.J. Spaun (2025) and Wyndham Clark (2026), besides Chris Gottreup of the US.
In sharp contrast were the struggles befalling an ailing world number one Scottie Scheffler who went from dominating at Memphis where he won by eight shots to a 2 over 72, his worst start at any event since the US Open in June.
“I went home and I worked on a few things and at least got myself back in a frame of mind where like I felt like I’m at least back on the right path of what I’m doing with my game and with my swing,” McIlroy said.
Trending well
“It’s certainly a work in progress. Days like this are encouraging, obviously. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Talking to Golf Channel, McIlroy added, “I felt at least like I got myself back going in the right direction, and what I wanted to do with my swing, but still you never know when you turn up here.
“This golf course sets up a lot better for me than Memphis did last week. You can miss it a little bit off the tee, and the playing corridors are a lot wider, so you can get away with it, which I needed to get away with it a couple of times today.
“But this set-up suits my game a little bit better, and I definitely feel a little bit more comfortable on this golf course than I did last week.”
McIlroy took a four-week break after The Open with and failed to break par in any of the four rounds for the first time in more than five years at the St. Jude Championship.
Time spent with swing coach Michael Bannon in Florida after the Memphis disappointment seemed to have hit the right notes on return to competition just four days later.
Lone blip
Alongside the Masters champion, Woodland holed out for an eagle on hole 11 and hit every green in regulation till 18, which he bogeyed for a lone blemish on his card, and Clark birdied five of his last six holes to vault up the leaderboard.
Spaun sank seven birdies till he dropped a shot on 18 while the in-form Gotterup is on the hunt for a fourth title this year after this season the Sony Open in Hawaii, the WM Phoenix Open and John Deere Classic.
Sharing sixth place one shot behind the cluster atop the leaderboard were Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick leading to five US Open winners shooting 65 or better on the day which Clark dismissed as a “coincidence”.
According to the PGA Tour, this is the seventh event this year and the second in a row with five or more first round co-leaders after the Players Championship, the PGA Championship, Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Canadian Open, Genesis Scottish Open, and St. Jude Championship.
From the BMW Championship, the top 30 will advance to next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, though Scheffler has already tied up the season-ending top spot — and attendant bonus.
Also read: Scheffler cruises to St Jude title, seals FedEx standings top spot
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