It was the kind of start Rory McIlroy wanted in Round 1 of the BMW PGA Championship. And then it all went awry in head-scratching fashion.
McIlroy, teeing off in the morning wave at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, eagled the par-5 fourth and birdied the par-4 fifth. He was quickly to 3 under par and just one shot off the early lead.
But McIlroy bogeyed the eighth, and then the ninth, and then the 10th. If not for a lengthy par save at the 11th, it would have been four consecutive dropped shots.