Rory McIlroy: Breaking club in PGA Championship at Wentworth was ‘weird feeling’

His approach shot at the 12th still finished six feet from the hole, enabling the four-time major champion to secure a birdie.

“Thankfully the ball went where I wanted it to – it could have been a lot worse,” McIlroy said.

An eventful first round also saw him putt left-handed at one point, while his tee shot on the 17th bounced out of the trees, and he also hit his approach to the 18th out of bounds.

Last week’s Irish Open runner-up is aiming to repeat his only previous success in the PGA Championship back in 2014 and also make a further move towards clinching a sixth DP World Tour Race to Dubai crown.

“Five under, I would have taken that at the start of the day, especially because the wind is getting up and the closing stretch is playing pretty tough,” McIlroy said.

“I played well and it was a bit of a continuation of what I was feeling last week.”

McIlroy lost out by one shot to Dane Rasmus Hojgaard at Royal County Down last weekend, having enjoyed a four-shot lead at one point during the final round.

“Getting on to a course – playing RCD for four days and coming here feels like getting a bit of breather and a bit more room to play,” McIlroy added.

“It’s nice to feel a bit more freedom off the tee. It was a solid start.”