Golf

Rory McIlroy may face fine for club throw after frustrating first round at Wentworth

Francesco Molinari shows return to form to lead PGA Championship on seven under

World number one Rory McIlroy got off to a mixed start at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this afternoon. Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
World number one Rory McIlroy got off to a mixed start at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this afternoon. Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Thu May 21 2015 - 20:52

Rory McIlroy had a battle on his hands just to keep his emotions in check as he looked to get into contention to defend his BMW PGA Championship title at Wentworth on Friday.

McIlroy faces a fine from the European Tour after throwing a club in frustration following a poor second shot to the 17th in an opening round of 71, which left him six shots off the lead held by former Ryder Cup team-mate Francesco Molinari.

It is not the first time this season McIlroy has been in trouble for such an incident, the world number one hurling his three iron into a lake at Doral during the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.

And it is not the first time he has thrown a club in anger at Wentworth, doing so in 2012 on his way to rounds of 74 and 79.

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“Acceptance of bad shots is the thing I have been doing so well and I feel like my patience was wearing a bit thin,” McIlroy said. “I just need to stay in control of my emotions because I feel like that’s one of the things... if I’m a little tired or a little fatigued mentally, I’ll start to be hard on myself and start to get down on myself.

“I played okay. There weren’t really any aspects of my game I thought were really good, but at the same time I don’t feel any aspect of my game was really off.”

Molinari, whose brother Edoardo retired with a wrist injury after playing 16 holes in eight over, was joint second in the Spanish Open last week and has an excellent record at Wentworth, having finished seventh, ninth and seventh the last three years.

“Any time you shoot 65 round here is a great score but unfortunately they don’t give you the trophy after the first day,” Molinari said. “I need to keep my head down, play well on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and see if that’s going to be enough.”

Molinari enjoyed a two-shot lead over former European number one Robert Karlsson, with England’s Chris Wood, Scotland’s Marc Warren, former US PGA champion YE Yang and Spanish pair Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jorge Campillo all four under.

Karlsson has suffered a number of problems with form and fitness since topping the Order of Merit in 2008, most famously withdrawing from the 2012 Open on the eve of the event because he was unable to start his backswing.
The 45-year-old Swede at least has happier memories of Wentworth, shooting a course-record 62 in the third round in 2010 after having to hire a private jet to get back to London on Saturday morning because he had flown home to Monaco the day before thinking he had missed the cut.
Wood has played just six events this season after spending five months on the sidelines with a broken bone in his wrist, suffered when he fell during a tennis lesson in October.
“It’s a long way for me to fall and it hurt,” the 6ft 6in English golfer joked. “It was misdiagnosed as bone bruising for a month and then I was in a cast for two months at home.
“It was a nightmare because I fell out of the top 60 on the Race to Dubai and plummeted down the world rankings. It’s been a struggle and feels like I have been working hard to finish 30th every week. I did finish third in Morocco but I think it was always going to be a bit of a battle after five months.”
Peter Lawrie was a shot behind Wood on three under as he looked to take full advantage of a late call-up to the event.
The Dubliner didn’t have the best of starts, making a double-bogey at the third, but he would card six birdies and a bogey in a 69.

Damien McGrane made seven birdies in his opening round but also carded five bogeys in a two-under 70.

Niall Kearney enjoyed a fine debut round in the tournament, carding a level-par 72 round that including four birdies and four bogeys. Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke recovered somewhat from carding three bogeys in the opening four holes to card a two-over 74, the same mark as Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell, while Michael Hoey was a shot further back after a 75.
Pádraig Harrington’s tournament lasted just two holes after the three-time Major winner failed to shake off a shoulder injury.
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher had been forced to withdraw from the event before play began due to a wrist injury.