Rory McIlroy Doesn't Find Many Fairways But Finds Share of Lead at BMW Championship

With Olympia Fields playing soft, the three-time FedEx Cup champion said playing from the rough was less penal.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — The playoff grind is nothing new to Rory McIlroy, so he was hardly about to fret over a driver that went astray a few too many times Thursday during the opening round of the BMW Championship.

McIlroy has won the FedEx Cup title three times in his career and he’s in a great spot to win a fourth regardless of what happens this week at Olympia Fields Country Club.

With three more days here and four in Atlanta next week at the Tour Championship, a few missed fairways—in a round of 65—was of little concern.

"Only hitting three fairways today and coming up with 65 is a bit of a bonus," McIlroy said.

The score tied him for the first-round lead with British Open champion Brian Harman, who last week shook off the rust at the FedEx St. Jude in his first event following his win at Royal Liverpool, making six birdies and a single bogey on the par-70 course.

Founded in 1915, the North Course at Olympia Fields has hosted four men’s major championships including the 2003 U.S. Open, as well as six prior Western Opens, the forerunner to the BMW Championship.

The last BMW at Olympia Fields was in 2020 when Jon Rahm defeated Dustin Johnson in a sudden-death playoff, holing a dramatic 65-foot birdie putt after both players finished at 268, 2 under par.

Those are some pretty difficult scoring conditions for a non-major championship, but early-week rain and another storm Thursday morning that delayed play by two hours softened the course and made things easier.

And that’s why McIlroy could blast away with his driver.

“With the golf course being so soft, it's almost an advantage to be playing out of the rough going into some of these greens because you know the ball is not going to spin," McIlroy said. “I'm not saying I was trying to aim for the rough, but a lot of the tee shots I was just being super aggressive because I knew in the back of my mind I wasn't really being penalized for it.

“The golf course is certainly not playing the way it played in 2020. That was not my approach a few years ago here. But hopefully with the wind and the sun, the golf course starts to firm up a little bit and starts to play a little bit more like how I think it should play."

McIlroy was hardly complaining. Despite hitting so few fairways, he still managed to find 15 of 18 greens in regulation. When he flew it over the green at the third hole, he hit a nice chip to save par. At the 17th, where he missed the fairway and had a threat a shot through two trees, his ball bounded over the green—and he chipped in from 40 feet for a birdie.

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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2023

"It was sort of hit and hope," McIlroy said of the shot through the trees. “I rode my luck a little bit. I got decent lies in the rough. And from there I was able to get club on the ball and control my distance okay. Going into the next three days, I’d like to hit more fairways."

Harman rolled in a 40-footer for a birdie and also chipped in twice to get his place atop the leaderboard.

It was a nice rebound after a tie for 31st last week in Memphis, where he didn’t play particular poorly—he shot three scores in the 60s—but was simply still returning from the clouds after his Open victory.

"You want to squeeze every bit out of good form that you can," said Harman, whose last victory prior to the Open came in 2017. "But the really important thing for me is just executing golf shots. On the range I've got a shot in mind I'm trying to execute and I'm judging myself on how well I'm doing that and how well it transfers out to the golf course.

“I've just tried to have a better idea of where my game is at so that I can manage expectations and not go out—I don't want there to be a lot of surprise about where my game is when I'm in the tournament."

McIlroy and Harman were followed on the leaderboard by a large group at 4 under: Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala and Chris Kirk. The latter three are battling to make the Tour Championship next week, where only the top 30 from the 50-player field advance.

Kirk began the week 29th, Theegala 31st and Fitzpatrick 40th.

"I think it's impossible to ignore," Theegala said. “I think everyone would be lying if they didn't know exactly where they stood and (have) somewhat of an idea what it's going to take to get to next week.

“It's another thing where I'm just going to try and put my best foot forward and have as good a week as I can and have the best prep. If I'm in position back nine on Sunday, that's when I'm really, really looking. Maybe earlier. Maybe this situation probably sometime on Sunday at the start of the round, too.

"I'm definitely paying attention to it but not sweating it too much."