Rory McIlroy and Leona Maguire bounce back from recent reverses

While Shane Lowry also shot five-under to lie just two shots behind leader Matthew Baldwin, he couldn’t wrest the spotlight from the world No 3, who was a walking highlight reel. After making four birdies in a row from the third, McIlroy missed a two-footer for par at the seventh, putted left-handed at the eighth after leaving himself no stance on the edge of a pond, then birdied the ninth to turn in 31 before making an extraordinary birdie at the 516-yard, par-five 12th.

He gave a nine-iron the full treatment from 191 yards, but as it kicked down to eight feet, he wasn’t looking at the green but staring at the shaft in his hands after the clubhead detached on impact.

“I don’t think it’s ever happened to me before,” he said. “Obviously a very weird feeling through impact. I looked up and the clubhead caught my eye instead of the golf ball. Fortunately, it didn’t impact the shot too much. But I got it repaired and had it back on 16. Thankfully, didn’t need it for any of the holes in between.”

​McIlroy didn’t make another birdie over the windy closing stretch and signed off with a bogey six after hitting his second out of bounds. “Overall, probably a fair reflection of how I played,” McIlroy said. “Hopefully go out tomorrow and shoot something similar, a little lower, and have a real chance going into the weekend.”

Baldwin’s 65 gave him a one-shot lead over Dane Niklas Norgaard and Belgian Thomas Detry as 2022 winner Lowry came home in four-under to join McIlroy in an 11-way tie for fourth.

“You kind of have to stay very patient around here you and always know you’re going to have a few chances coming in,” Lowry said. “I did that today and I got rewarded on the back nine.”

Meanwhile, Leona Maguire insisted she has “a lot of respect” for European skipper Suzann Pettersen after she opened with a five-under 67 in the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.

The Cavan star confessed it was “a bitter pill to swallow” after she was benched by Pettersen for three of the opening four sessions in Europe’s 15½-12½ Solheim Cup defeat and had “a point to prove” in her 4&3 singles win over Ally Ewing.

After building on that momentum in Ohio last night, she denied she was sending another message to the captain despite getting an unsatisfactory explanation for her treatment in Virginia.

“No, me and Suzann are on very good terms,” Maguire said. “I have a lot of respect for her. She was a hero of mine growing up, and ultimately, it was her decision. Last week, she did what was best for the team, and I’d have been happy to sit out every match if it meant we’d have brought back the trophy last week.

“But I knew my game was in good shape, and showed that in the singles last week, and I’m just trying to finish off the season as strong as I can.”

After making an eagle and five birdies to lie two shots behind clearly leader Ashleigh Buhai, Maguire confessed she was finally enjoying golf again after “a tough couple of months”.

“The last few months, I haven’t enjoyed my golf as much as I should have, and I think last week was just a reminder of how fun golf can be,” she said.

In Alicante, Sara Byrne opened with two-under 70 on her professional LET debut in the €1m La Sella Open.

She was tied for 17th, just two shots behind Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta, Germany’s Helen Briem and Finland’s Elina Nummenpaa, but Lauren Walsh and Olivia Mehaffey are in danger of missing the cut after 75s left them joint 89th.

In the Italian Challenge Open, Conor Purcell’s two-under 69 left him tied 32nd, six shots behind Wil Besseling.

Meanwhile, the PGA of America confirmed last night it will allow LIV Golf members to compete for US Ryder Cup team in 2025. “Going forward, all LIV Golf players are eligible for the PGA Championship and an American player who qualifies for the Ryder Cup on points or is added to the US team as a captain’s pick is eligible to compete,” the PGA said.

“This is consistent with LIV Golf players competing in the PGA Championship the past two years. Brooks Koepka was a member of the US Ryder Cup team last year.”

BMW PGA Championship, 8.30am La Sella Open, 1.0pm Kroger Queen City C’ship, 6.0pm (All live on Sky Sports)