PGA CHAMPIONSHIP RELATED STORIES PGA Championship Home PGA Championship Preview Round 1: Tiger Woods leads after a flawless 67 Round 1: Harrington enjoying Tiger rematch Round 1: John Daly withdraws after a 78 Round 1: Phil Mickelson struggles with the putter Round 1: Allenby happy despite double bogey Round 1: Rory McIlroy off to encouraging start Round 2: Tiger Woods opens a four shot lead Round 2: Padraig Harrington still chasing Tiger Round 2: Ian Poulter moves up the leaderboard Round 2: Late bogies cost Ross Fisher Round 2: Club pro Grant Sturgeon holding on Round 2: Phil Mickelson struggles but makes cut Round 3: Tiger Woods holds on to two shot lead Round 3: Solid Harrington closes in on lead Round 3: YE Yang vaults in to final pairing Round 3: Late bogies pull Ernie Els back Round 4: Yang becomes first Asian major winner Round 4: Putting touch fails Tiger Woods Round 4: YE Yang's win a big boost for Asian golf Round 4: 8 on 8th ends Harrington's chances Round 4: Lee Westwood happy with third place Round 4: Eagle the sole highlight for Phil Mickelson Round 4: Very different future now for YE Yang Round 4: South Korea celebrates YE Yang's win Tiger Woods the focus of attention Phil Mickelson excited to be playing again Hazeltine - the longest major course ever Westwood hoping to drive way to major success Usual major questions for Sergio Garcia Year of almost great major stories Rich Beem back at scene of famous win Tiger Woods toughens up on slow play ruling Rory McIlroy happy to be patient Trevor Immelman out of PGA Championship Paul Casey to decide on PGA today Tiger on a winning run heading into PGA PGA Championship Scores 2009 PGA Tour Schedule and Results 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 COMPETITIONS, GIFTS AND OFFERS WIN 2 nights/3 rds at The Vale Resort £10,000 of Teeofftimes prizes in April! WIN Healthspan Supplements WIN tickets to the National Golf Show! Open Champion Tom Watson's DVD Get the Open Fairways card for just £59!

Rory McIlroy off to encouraging start

Rory McIlroy was delighted to regain form at the U.S. PGA Championship on Thursday after struggling in his previous two starts on the PGA Tour.

The mop-haired Northern Irishman, making his debut in the year’s final major, carded a one-under-par 71 in the opening round at Hazeltine National

“It was a very solid round,” McIlroy told reporters after mixing three birdies with two bogeys in hot, humid conditions. “It was quite the opposite to what I was playing like last week, so it was nice to turn it around.”

The 20-year-old made a fast start on a calm morning, reeling off three birdies in his first six holes to grab the early lead after teeing off at the 10th.

However, he then slipped back after dropping shots at the 16th and par-four first.

“I wasn’t able to keep it going but I felt as if I played very solid today,” said McIlroy, who won his maiden European Tour title at the Dubai Desert Classic in February.

“I didn’t put myself in too many bad spots so I was happy with one under.

“I gave myself a lot of chances which wasn’t like me the last few weeks,” he added, referring to a tie for 47th at last month’s British Open and a share of 68th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.

“The last two tournaments I’ve played have been a really big grind, just trying to make pars and trying to shoot somewhere around level par.

“But I actually feel after today that I can go around this golf course and shoot a good number. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come this week.”

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