Rory McIlroy battling illness after a ‘messy and erratic’ round at the 2023 PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy had a mediocre showing in round one at the PGA Championship. Evidently, he's battling an illness that has potentially caused his substandard play.

Golf reporter Ryan Lavner tweeted:

"After a 'messy' and 'erratic' round of 71, Rory says he’s battling some kind of illness. Whoop showed a 22% recovery overnight but actually felt better today than Wednesday."

McIlroy finishes round one over par, which is a poor showing for the world number three golfer who was expected to compete for the trophy this time around. It's been a stretch of poor form for the Irishman, but this time may be blamed on the illness.

McIlroy may be battling something serious as he's still struggling after a reported 22% increase in health. It will be interesting to see how effective he is tomorrow for round two. If he doesn't get better, he may have to withdraw for his own good.

He said (via the Independent):

"I’m fighting something. I thought I got a great night’s sleep last night and I looked at my Whoop (personal fitness monitor) and I was 22 per cent recovery, and my skin temperature was 3.5 degrees higher than what it’s been."

It was a very mixed result for the golfer in the first round. For starters, he finished over par and is far from the leaders at this point. However, he also showed his skill as he hit a few unbelievable shots to remind everyone that he's still Rory McIlroy.

Rory McIlroy has struggled mightily

Still, a +1 in the opening round, while far from a death knell, is not ideal. McIlroy has struggled mightily of late, including at the last major where he missed the cut.

He is the third-ranked golfer in the world but hasn't won a major since 2014. Routinely, something happens that causes him to play poorly. The Masters was so bad that he skipped the next event even though it cost him $3 million.

Will the PGA Championship be the same? If he can't recover and turn things around, it very well might be.

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Rory McIlroy officially becomes a Buffalo Bills fan

Rory McIlroy is not from America, thus American football isn't exactly his first love. Still, he's become a fan and now, he has an official team to root for: The Buffalo Bills.

His love for Josh Allen, who is a celebrity golfer that participated in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, helped make that decision according to ESPN:

"It certainly makes it easier to root for the Bills when Josh Allen is throwing the football. I know he's a big golf fan. I haven't met him. I think he played Pebble Beach pro-am this year, but I didn't play there. Yeah, I'd obviously love to meet him."

Just a day later, Allen was present at the PGA Championship to welcome McIlroy into the fandom. It was probably as much fun for Allen to meet McIlroy as the other way around. These two might become fast friends now.