Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau Face Early PGA Test
Golf has a way of humbling even the players built to overpower it.
Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau arrived at Aronimink as two of the biggest forces in the modern game, players whose strength and speed can shrink golf courses that are supposed to feel enormous. On Thursday morning at the PGA Championship, Aronimink did not shrink.
It pushed back.
By The Numbers
- 74: Rory McIlroy's opening-round score at the PGA Championship.
- 4: Consecutive bogeys McIlroy made to close his round.
- 76: Bryson DeChambeau's opening-round score at Aronimink.
- 1: Birdie made by DeChambeau in Round 1.
- 52 feet: Distance DeChambeau's putt rolled past the hole during a costly early sequence.
McIlroy opened with a 4-over 74, a round that became particularly damaging when he closed with four consecutive bogeys. DeChambeau had an even tougher start, posting 6-over 76 and waiting until his final hole to make his only birdie of the day.
Those are not tournament-ending numbers by themselves.
But they are tone-changing numbers.
For McIlroy, the frustration came from the kind of performance he likely believed he had moved beyond. He struggled off the tee and left himself fighting Aronimink from uncomfortable places. At a course with damp, dense rough and severe greens, that is not a recipe for control.
That late run of bogeys was the real damage. A difficult opening round can be managed. A messy finish lingers. It turns a grind into a problem. It changes Friday from a positioning round into a repair job.
DeChambeau's day carried a different kind of frustration. He has been one of the most compelling major-championship presences in recent years, and his power usually gives him chances even when parts of his game are imperfect. But Aronimink found ways to make that power feel less comfortable.
One sequence told the story. At the par-4 11th, his second hole of the day, a lightly touched birdie putt from just off the green caught a slope and rolled 52 feet past the hole. That is the kind of moment that turns a major setup from challenging into maddening.
The important thing now is not whether either player can make birdies. Of course they can.
The question is whether they can create enough control to make those birdies matter.
Major championships are rarely lost because a player makes one mistake. They are lost when the course keeps asking hard questions and the player cannot find a stretch of quiet. McIlroy and DeChambeau both spent Thursday morning looking for that quiet and never truly found it.
There is still time. Players of this caliber do not disappear after 18 holes simply because the first round went poorly.
But Aronimink has already changed their week.
They are no longer easing into the PGA Championship. They are chasing it.
Key Takeaways
- McIlroy and DeChambeau both left the morning wave with significant work to do.
- Aronimink's rough, greens and hole locations made power alone insufficient.
- McIlroy's four-bogey finish changed the feel of his opening round.
- DeChambeau's lone birdie came too late to prevent a damaging start.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent "The Starter" on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 3:35 PM.