Rory McIlroy is not playing like a man burdened with off-the-golf-course drama.
Caroline Wozniacki came out of last weekend as the winner in the court of public opinion
McIlroy, who rallied from a seven-stroke deficit in the final round to win the BMW PGA Championship last week, continued his on-fire performance Thursday with a 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.
The 25-year-old had the unenviable task of announcing his breakup with fiancée Caroline Wozniacki prior to the start of the BMW PGA in Surrey, England. But once he got past that embarrassing moment, he has looked like the Rory McIlroy of old, the one who was ranked No. 1 in 2012.
As the Guardian reported, "So much for a broken heart. If Rory McIlroy really is reeling from the ending of his engagement to Caroline Wozniacki, he has a curious way of showing it. After Wozniacki was bundled out of the French Open at the first-round stage, McIlroy again provided fireworks on the golf course."
Rory McIlroy broke up with Caroline Wozniacki over the phone
It was a knee injury, rather than relationship woes, that posed the biggest threat to McIlroy on Thursday.
"I felt it on my second shot at the seventh (hole)," McIlroy told the Guardian of his injury. "My foot might have just got stuck in the ground there. It was painful after I hit shots, then I walked it off in between. With a little bit of ice and some treatment, hopefully it will be alright tomorrow.
"I haven't felt that before. I have never had a problem with my knees. I tweaked my back last week at Wentworth and am still struggling a little bit with that but I don't know where this came from."
McIlroy was so locked in that a double-bogey on No. 14 didn't faze him at all. He came back with an eagle on No. 15 and a birdie on No. 16.
He has a three-stroke lead over Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk and Paul Casey. But the way McIlroy is playing, only his troublesome knee may stand in his way of his first PGA Tour win since the BMW Championship in September of 2012.
"I put it out of my mind when I was over the golf shots," said McIlroy, according to CBSSports.com. "I guess I just pretended (the injury) wasn't there."
The same could be said of his troubled personal life. Mutliple media outlets reported that he did not want to comment on his relationship with Wozniacki on Thursday.
Do you think Rory McIlroy's hot streak will carry him into the favorite role at the U.S. Open? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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