RORY McILROY overcame his severe case of the first-round flutters, as he set a scorching pace at the PGA Championship.
The 33-year-old star has proved a notoriously slow starter in the Majors since his last win, at the 2014 PGA.
He is a combined 35 over par for his opening rounds since then.
But a brilliant five-under-par 65 at Southern Hills was just what the doctor ordered — especially as he is 68 under par for rounds two to four in the same eight-year period.
His was the best score posted by the morning wave of starters, a shot better than the 66 posted by the American duo Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge.
And McIlroy totally eclipsed his illustrious playing partners Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
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Woods seemed to be in constant pain from the right leg he almost lost in a car crash 15 months ago as he laboured to a four-over-par 74.
And Spieth’s dreams of completing the career Grand Slam were jolted by an erratic 72.
So it was little wonder the bounce was right back in McIlroy’s step.
And he finished in style by sinking a tricky 18-footer for his seventh birdie of the day. That wiped out the bad taste left by bogeys at the two short holes on the front nine — his second nine — after the all-star trio started on the tenth.
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The omens for a long overdue fifth Major title look promising, after McIlroy reeled off a run of four straight birdies early on.
The last time he achieved that feat in the opening round of a Major was when he won that PGA Championship eight years ago.
McIlroy beamed: “It feels so good to get off to a great start in the Majors for a change.
“I need to build on this now — but that was terrific for my confidence.
“I’ve felt good about my game since I finished second at the Masters, shooting that 64 on the final day.
“I played pretty well at the Wells Fargo last time out too, finishing fifth when I was a bit rusty.
“It is a great start. And it was also nice to finish the way I did after getting to six under par and then giving a couple of shots back, without really doing very much wrong. I don’t want to get ahead of myself — but this is a great position to be in.
“I just need to make sure I keep it going.”
Tiger Woods had a row with a cameraman on his way to the opening hole
Woods also got off to an encouraging start and was two under par after five holes.
But it was all downhill after that, while Spieth just could not reproduce the form that saw him finish first and second in his last two starts.
Woods, 46, appeared unusually nervous walking down to his opening hole — even barking at a TV cameraman to back off and give him some space.
But he had nothing to be anxious about, at that hole anyway.
After smashing a three wood middle of the fairway Woods hit a wedge to just outside three feet — and rammed home the birdie putt for the perfect start.
The 15-time Major champion seemed determined to repeat the game plan that brought him victory in the 2007 PGA Championship over this course.
He rarely reached for the driver 15 years ago, mostly concentrating on hitting the fairways, even though it left him a long way back for his approach shots.
That seemed to count against him as a two-iron tee shot on the 461-yard 12th left him 187 yards to the flag, while McIlroy and Spieth both pulled out the ‘big dog’.
That allowed both to cut the dogleg and a monster 353-yard drive from McIlroy — 26 yards longer than Spieth’s effort — left him just a flick to the green.
He clipped it to inside two feet for a birdie.
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Spieth made a nine-footer to open his account, while Woods had to settle for par.
McIlroy walked off that green with the sort of swagger that has been absent far too often in the opening rounds of Majors.
And sure enough, it had provided the spark for that stunning run of four birdies in a row.
Woods took some comfort from McIlroy’s heroics.
He said: “I need a low round to get back in this and Rory showed it’s out there — he made it look pretty easy to be honest.
“I hit a lot of bad shots and put myself in a lot of bad places. And I have to say I’ve felt better physically — and mentally.
“But I’ll have plenty of ice and treatment, start the recovery process, and then go about trying to play my way back into this tournament.”
