Rory McIlroy at PGA Championship 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Reaction

It had been nearly two full months since we'd seen Rory McIlroy in a PGA event before Thursday. Once he hit the first tee box, you wouldn't have known it.

McIlroy carded an one-under 71 in Round 1 of the 2015 PGA Championship, heading into the clubhouse in a tie for 24th place. The world No. 1 carded four birdies against three bogeys during his first competitive round since the U.S. Open.

"Felt like [this week] was the right time to come regardless whether it was this week, or no matter what week it was," McIlroy told reporters. "I was ready to go whether it was this week, whether it was some other tournament. It wasn't like I was trying to get back for this. It just so happened that I was feeling good enough to go this week."

Injured while playing soccer recreationally, McIlroy is still working his way back from ligament damage in his right ankle. He was forced to miss his Open Championship defense and came into Whistling Straits cold, save for a few practice rounds.     

“I honestly thought it was going to be harder than it was,” McIlroy told reporters Wednesday “I thought I was going to miss it more than I did. But if anything, having to sit those tournaments out—especially the Open Championship going back to St. Andrews, which is probably my favorite venue in the world—gave me a huge sense of perspective."

McIlroy's day started under less than ideal circumstances. A poor first tee shot sent him scrambling into a frustrating three-putt on one of the easiest holes on the course. McIlroy followed with a brilliant second hole to nearly give himself an eagle before eventually settling for a tap-in par. Comedian Norm Macdonald, who is the best, was giving running commentary:

"

Rory, after a blast of a drive, follows with a long approach, and a makeable eagle to be stood over.

— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) August 13, 2015"

For the most part, that one-step-forward-one-step-back routine was the lay of the land for his front nine. The par-five fifth played host to McIlroy's most remarkable shot of the round, as he pitched his way out of the greenside water and onto the green to avoid dropping a stroke.  

Another poor drive on No. 8 wound up dropping him back to one over, leading to yet another makeup on No. 9 to make the turn at 36. Seemingly happy to settle for a middling round, the majority of McIlroy's back nine was nondescript. He turned in pars on six of the nine holes, narrowly missing out on a bunch of birdies on par-fours because of rusty putting.

Luckily, there were a couple of par fives to keep McIlroy in red numbers.

A 359-yard drive and solid approach gave McIlroy an eagle look from 14 feet out on No. 11 before his putt went a foot long and he tapped in to get to one under. The par-five 16th was a bit more of an adventure, as McIlroy's second shot went sailing into the rough nearly 50 yards away from the hole. Another solid pitch saved the day, and he holed out his birdie putt from eight feet.

McIlroy finished his day out with a bogey, hitting his second shot into the rough before struggling around the green to go out with a 71. 

Overall, McIlroy likely feels he left strokes on the course. Struggles with driving accuracy and a poor day putting the ball left him with work to do despite being able to hit more than three-quarters of his greens in regulation. Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard made a note that this was par for the course (pun intended):

While far from an insurmountable deficit, McIlroy doesn't appear comfortable enough on the greens to make a real push at contention. Perhaps he'll get hot Friday, and this will all be moot. But he didn't seem to find a feel whatsoever on the shortgrass.

Either way, when you're so good an anonymous round puts you almost in the top 20 of a major, life is pretty decent.