Matt McCarty holds 1-shot lead at Quail Hollow as Rory McIlroy struggles to make birdies in return

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matt McCarty couldn’t stop making birdies.

Rory McIlroy thought he was never going to make one.

McCarty followed up four straight top 25 finishes on the PGA Tour with nine birdies at Quail Hollow to shoot an 8-under 63 on Thursday for a one-shot lead over Sungjae Im at the Truist Championship before the round was called because of rain.

Im was on his final hole when the skies opened up. He, along with a handful of others, will complete the round on Friday.

Playing for the first time since winning his second consecutive Masters more than three weeks ago, McIlroy looked rusty at times on a course where he has dominated, winning four times while setting several tournament scoring records.

The world No. 2 player made 17 straight pars to open the round before finally getting a birdie putt to drop on No. 9 and celebrating by sardonically thrusting both arms high in the air.

“I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie,” McIlroy said. “I think I was like ‘just try to make one.’ I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there.”

Of the 986 rounds McIlroy has played on the PGA Tour, only seven times has he failed to make a birdie — the last coming at the 2024 Masters.

Quail Hollow’s par-4, 539-yard ninth hole doesn’t yield many, especially when a player misses the fairway as McIlroy did. But McIlroy lifted a 9-iron from the left rough 194 yards over the trees and found a way to get his ball to stop 15 feet from the hole.

McIlroy finished with a 1-under 70, leaving him seven shots behind.

Canadian Nick Taylor is among five players are three shots back at 5 under including defending tournament champion Sepp Straka, Kristoffer Reitan, Nicolai Hojgaard and Harry Hall.

Cameron Young is once again in contention, four shots back along with Tommy Fleetwood and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished their opening rounds with an even 72.

Young also was on his final hole before the rain hit.

Young, who turned 29 on Thursday, continues to take his game to a different level. After going 93 tournaments without a victory, he’s taken a quantum leap forward with three wins in his last 14 events, including last week at Doral.

McCarty was dynamite with his putter all day. He followed up a 59-foot birdie putt on No. 16 with a 52-footer on No. 17 to best Quail Hollow’s difficult three closing holes known as the Green Mile.

“I’ve been playing some good golf for the last few weeks,” McCarty said. “I wasn’t hitting it that great early today but you make a bunch of 50-plus footers and it kind of gets your day going. Hit it a lot better on the back nine and nice to get a few coming home for sure.”

As much as McIlroy struggled, It was an even more frustrating day for his playing partners Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick, who made up the featured group of the day.

Rose shot 71 and became so irritated at himself that he dropped his club purposely after his follow through on an approach shot. Then he held out his hands as he looked at the club, as if if pleading with it to do its job.

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick bristled at his caddie after his fairway wood found the water on the par-5 seventh hole leading to a bogey and a 3-over 74, leaving him 11 shots behind.

Fitzpatrick’s brother, Alex, fared much better, shooting 67.

The tournament was delayed several hours after a storm Wednesday night and Thursday morning dumped more than two inches of rain on the course.

McIlroy said it helped soften the greens, but he couldn’t take advantage.

“The fairways are pretty wet and the golf course is playing very, very long which should play into my hands,” McIlroy said. “I felt like I hit the ball well and hit enough good shots to be a little better than what I was, but I got three more days to try to catch up to everyone.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Steve Reed, The Associated Press