Matt McCarty carded nine birdies and shot an 8-under 63 at Quail Hollow to take a one-shot lead over Sungjae Im at the Truist Championship before play was halted by rain, the report says. Im was on his final hole when the storm arrived, and he and 19 others are scheduled to complete the round Friday beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Playing for the first time since winning his second consecutive Masters more than three weeks ago, Rory McIlroy looked rusty at times on a course where the report says he has dominated. The world No. 2 made 17 straight pars to open his round before a birdie on No. 9, celebrated with a sarcastic two-arm thrust, and finished 1-under 70, seven shots off the lead. McIlroy said he could not remember the last time he played a round without a birdie and that he has “three more days to try to catch up to everyone.”
Five players sat three shots back at 5 under, including defending champion Sepp Straka, Kristoffer Reitan, Nicolai Hojgaard, Harry Hall and Nick Taylor, per the report. Cameron Young and Tommy Fleetwood were four shots behind; Young was on his final hole when play was suspended. The report notes Young turned 29 on Thursday and has three victories in his last 14 events, including last week at Doral.
McCarty followed four straight top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour with a hot putting day, the report says, holing a 59-foot birdie putt on No. 16 and a 52-footer on No. 17 to get through Quail Hollow’s difficult closing stretch known as the Green Mile. “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,” he said.
The featured group had mixed fortunes. Justin Rose shot 71 and, frustrated with his play, dropped his club after a follow-through, while Matt Fitzpatrick struggled to a 3-over 74 after a fairway-wood shot found the water on the par-5 seventh, leaving him 11 shots back. Alex Fitzpatrick shot 67. The tournament experienced several hours of delay after a storm that dropped more than two inches of rain on the course, which McIlroy said softened the greens but did not aid his score, the report says.
