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Rory McIlroy set to be punished for club throwing at Wentworth

Rory McIlroy - BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth
Image: Rory McIlroy - BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth

Rory McIlroy faces being fined by the European Tour after throwing a club in frustration during his opening round at the BMW PGA Championship.

The world No 1 opened the defence of his title with an erratic four-birdie, three-bogey 71, and claimed mental fatigue had affected his performance after teeing up for his fourth tournament in as many weeks.

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World number one Rory McIlroy could be hit with a fine for throwing his club in frustration after a poor shot during the PGA Championship.

McIlroy conceded he had been uncharacteristically angry at times on day one at Wentworth, and his temper boiled over on the 17th after he blocked his second shot and missed the green to the right.

The 26-year-old was clearly not happy as soon as he had made contact, and he hurled his three-wood several yards down the fairway after completing his follow-through.

It is not the first time this season McIlroy has been in trouble for such an incident, the world No 1 hurling his three-iron into a lake at Doral during the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.

The club was retrieved by a scuba diver and handed back to him on the range the following morning by Doral owner and billianaire businessman Donald Trump.

His latest indiscretion is likely to incur punishment from European Tour officials, capping a disappointing day for the defending champion despite ending the round just six shots behind leader Francesco Molinari.

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McIlroy started with a bogey, picked up birdies at the second and fourth, and slipped back to level par at the fifth before settling himself with a run of six straight pars.

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Defending BMW PGA Championship champion Rory McIlroy

He also birdied 12 and 14 either side of another dropped shot, but he was unable to take advantage of the two par-five finishing holes.

Angry

"Physically I am all right - I got back to my hotel at 4:30pm yesterday and did not leave it until 6:30 this morning - but mentally I could feel myself getting a little angry out there," McIlroy said.

"Acceptance of bad shots is the thing I have been doing so well and I feel like my patience was wearing a bit thin today. I felt I was standing still at one under but looking at the leaderboard it was not so bad.

"I felt myself getting a bit angry out there which I haven't been doing the last few weeks. I just need to stay in control of my emotions because I feel like if I'm a little tired or a little fatigued mentally I'll start to be hard on myself.

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"I didn't feel like any aspect of my game was really off today but at the same time I didn't do anything that good either. There's definitely room for improvement over the next few days.

"I could feel myself getting a bit down on myself out there. I need to be aware of that and be conscious that I just need to try to keep everything on an even keel. I will try not to do that over the next few days. Just try and get as much rest as I've been getting and I should be okay."

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