Rory McIlroy Finds Peace With Driver, Takes Early Lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational

If only for one round, the 32-year-old four-time major champion displayed why he's one of the world's finest when his driver is finding fairways.

ORLANDO, Fla. — It was just one round, and Rory McIlroy knows better than anyone that 18 holes is only a start, a good beginning that will require plenty more if he is to be wearing Arnold Palmer’s red cardigan on Sunday.

But watching him Thursday was a simple, nice reminder of the type of player McIlroy is and how good he can be when his tee shots find the short grass.

Sure, his first-round, 7-under-par 65 at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge included a 40-foot eagle putt and plenty of on-target approach shots. He added six birdies and a single bogey to take the early lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It was the driver, however, that really shined, the club that has always distinguished McIlroy when he’s been at his best.

“It’s a drive-into-the-ball golf course, this one," said PGA Tour veteran Graeme McDowell, who like McIlroy, is from Northern Ireland. "When Rory’s on with his driver, there’s no one better in the world. You can slightly bring this course to its knees if you drive it well here. I’m interested to see what his game plan is if he hits a lot of drivers around here.

"He obviously feels comfortable here. Played well here. I was going along nicely, got it up to 5 (under par) and I looked up, and he’s 6. I thought, of course, he’s 6. Obviously there are golf courses that fit your eye. There’s a lot of draw shapes out there.

"All I can say, when he’s on with a driver, there’s no one better. He’s just good, isn’t he?’’

For McIlroy, it is always seemingly a bit more complicated. He’s been so good for so long that it is often fair to wonder why the victory total is not higher, why the major total has been stuck on four for nearly eight years.

McIlroy, 32, notched his 20th PGA Tour victory last fall at the CJ Cup, meaning he will become a PGA Tour lifetime member once he completes 15 full seasons — which is still a few years away.

Adding to that total becomes far easier when he hits his tee shots as he did at Bay Hill. It sounds simple, but consider that McIlroy’s strokes gained off the tee was 2.3 during the first round. That equates to more than eight shots on the field over four rounds — just with the driver.

He hit 11 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens, so there were other aspects, too. But driving the ball ... well it drives everything.

“I really enjoy watching him play," said Adam Scott, who shot 68 and was in the same group as McIlroy, three shots back. "He’s a guy I can watch play and get positive swing thoughts for myself. I love watching him swing a golf club. I think almost everyone in the world would say that. Generally, he can lift my level of golf, especially when he’s playing the way he did today."

That is typically what has been said over the years of Scott, whose own swing has been the envy of many, including McIlroy.

“Anyone could watch Adam Scott swing a club all day," McIlroy said.

McIlroy is coming off a run of decent golf to start 2022, including a third-place finish at the DP World Tour event in Dubai in January and a tie for 10th two weeks ago at the Genesis Invitational.

Now he’s back at a place that he’s come to enjoy, one where he’s never missed a cut in seven previous tries, with five top-10s, including a victory in 2018.

Soon, the focus will turn to the Masters and McIlroy’s ability to complete the career Grand Slam — something he’s been striving for since he first had the opportunity in 2015. After next week’s Players Championship, which he won in 2019, McIlroy will not play again until the week prior to the Masters at the Valero Texas Open.

And getting a win before going to Augusta doesn’t hurt.

"It’s nice to win just regardless," he said. "I mean, regardless of when it comes in the season, it’s nice to win. Or in the year. This is my fourth start of the calendar year, and I’ve had one really good chance to win and probably one other half chance.

“I feel like I’m playing well enough to have chances to win golf tournaments, but all you can ask of yourself is to keep putting yourself in those positions on Sunday, and then you see where your game really is. Hopefully this is another week where I put myself in a position where I can really see where my game is when the pressure’s on."