After defending his Masters title at Augusta National last month, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy would have been hoping to continue his outstanding form heading into the PGA Championship starting on Thursday. Instead, the Northern Irishman was forced to stop a practice round for his second Major of the year after just three holes at Aronimink on Tuesday because of a nagging blister on his right foot.
McIlroy said Sunday after going through the final round of a PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow that he had a blister under his right pinky toenail that started hurting Friday.
He insisted it wouldn’t be a problem this week, but on Tuesday, McIlroy checked his right shoe several times before removing his right shoe and sock at the par four and was later carted back to the clubhouse, ending his first practice round of the week.
The 37-year-old, who had a practice session at Aronimink two weeks ago, told Golf Channel that he soaked his right foot Monday night and removed his right pinky toenail to better treat the blister.
Until Tuesday, the talking point at the PGA Championship was the venue, a gorgeous 7,394-yard, par-70 course with 174 bunkers scattered across the layout, with lightning-fast undulating greens.
Before his late afternoon handicap, McIlroy was talking about how to approach Aronimink with its difficult greens and wide landing areas for long drivers.
“Strategy at the start is pretty much non-existent. It’s basically bash the driver down there and then figure it out,” McIlroy said.
“You can be super aggressive off the tee and then there’s a little more strategy and thought going into the greens.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, however, expected a tough test if the possible rain on Wednesday and Thursday held off.
“The greens have a lot of slope and a lot of steps to them, so it’s going to be challenging,” Scheffler said. “If they can stay put like that, I think it’s going to be a pretty great test… it could get really challenging if it’s strong and fast.”
Things can change dramatically, however, if the soft greens become open.
“When it’s soft, there’s a lot you can get away with in the sense that you can hit it pretty far offline,” Scheffler said.
“Then with the soft greens you’re able to play a pretty simple strategy. You can play that kind of bomb-and-gog type of strategy.”
McIlroy’s concerns, for now, have changed the course of the conversation ahead of Wednesday’s final day of practice and Thursday’s opening round, with the golfer scheduled to tee off at 8:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) alongside Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Jordan Spieth.
Scheffler will play the first two days alongside England’s Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Rose, the world number seven, warned that Aronimink has a sting about foul shots.
“Rude is definitely creeping up to the point where you have to be respectful,” Rose said. “Freeways are generous, but you still have to be on them.”
