Rory McIlroy Misses Opportunities, Shoots Par in 1st Round of PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy is in the middle of a successful year by almost anyone's standards, but it is missing one thing—a major championship.

He took the first step toward trying to change that at the 100th PGA Championship on Thursday with an even-par 70 in the opening round at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. McIlroy was solid throughout and is well within striking distance of Rickie Fowler, who finished with a five-under 65 and set the initial bar with the early lead in the year’s final major.    

There was plenty of star power in the four-time major winner's group seeing how he was playing with defending champion Justin Thomas and 14-time major winner Tiger Woods.

It appeared for a moment as if the additional attention would faze McIlroy when he opened with a bogey after finding the rough and a greenside bunker on the 10th hole, his first. Those early concerns lasted a mere three shots, though, as he birdied his second hole and the par-three 13th before settling in with an even par at the turn.

He used a familiar formula throughout his round by shortening the course off the tee and avoiding unseemly three-putts on the green. He leads the PGA Tour in driving distance and is eighth in putts per round, per his PGA Tour profile.

Despite the impressive putting stats, he missed some opportunities with the club during Thursday's stretch run, failing to convert birdie putts on every single hole of his back nine.

Most of them were long and would have been head-turning shots, although the second hole will likely haunt him after he threw a dart at the pin with his iron approach and was within a few feet for the birdie chance. He had another makeable putt on the par-five eighth as well but couldn't find the center of the cup.

The Northern Ireland native will surely have to sink more of those birdie looks if he is going to win the PGA Championship for the third time in his career and capture a major for the first time since 2014.

He has consistently found a way to do just that this year considering he already won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, tied for fifth at the Masters, tied for second at the Open Championship, tied for eighth at the Memorial Tournament and tied for sixth at the Bridgestone Invitational.

The recent success suggests he will remain in contention throughout the weekend, but McIlroy already said he prefers the type of year he's having compared to "one hot week" at a major, per Alec Brzezinski of Omnisport (h/t Sporting News).

"I would take this year over the one where you win a major and because it's not—look, it is about the results at the end of the day," McIlroy said Tuesday. "People aren't going to look back at your career and think of the journey and it was consistent and whatever. They're going to look at if you win or lose. But I think within myself I would be happier to play the golf that I'm playing because I'm giving myself chances nearly every week that I tee it up."

He gave himself an early chance again Thursday with a solid showing, and the fact he reached so many greens in regulation during his back nine portends an eventual charge up the leaderboard.

If he continues finding greens at the rate he did in his first round and starts putting like he has throughout his season, McIlroy will be on the short list of contenders throughout the weekend with the year's final major hanging in the balance.