Rory McIlroy takes early lead at PGA Championship

TULSA, Okla. — Rory McIlroy looked free and easy and saw only opportunity at Southern Hills during the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday.

McIlroy blasted his driver over trees and into fairways, setting up some of his seven birdies that carried him to a 5-under 65 and an early 1-shot lead after the morning wave.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was among those playing Thursday afternoon as the heat index crept toward 90 degrees.

It was just what McIlroy needed as he tries to end nearly eight years without a major, many of those chances doomed by bad starts. This was his lowest start to par since a 6-under 66 when he won the PGA at Valhalla in 2014, the last of his four majors.

«I think when your game is feeling like that, it's just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can and just sort of staying in your own little world,» McIlroy said.

«I feel like this course, it lets you be pretty aggressive off the tee if you want to be, so I hit quite a lot of drivers out there and took advantage of my length and finished that off with some nice iron play and some nice putting.»

Will Zalatoris and Pebble Beach winner Tom Hoge each opened with a 66, while Matt Kuchar and Abraham Ancer were another shot behind.

McIlroy was playing alongside Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, who lacks only this major to complete the career Grand Slam and arrived in Tulsa with his game in good form. But a series of missed birdie chances was followed by a series of missed par putts, and Spieth never quite recovered. He had a late birdie and saved par on his final hole at No. 9 for a 72.

Woods picked his spots and was never terribly crisp on a right leg he said felt worse than it