US PGA Championship first round: Rory McIlroy 10 behind leader Jhonattan Vegas

Thirty-two days after his dramatic play-off victory at the Masters, which saw him become only the sixth player to win all four majors, most eyes were on McIlroy as he headed out as part of a three-ball containing the world’s top three-ranked players.

McIlroy – the US PGA champion in 2012 and 2014 – has an excellent record at Quail Hollow, winning four PGA Tour events there during his career.

The world number two started with a birdie at the par-five 10th – his first hole of the day – but gave that shot straight back by three-putting for bogey on the 11th green.

Another birdie followed on 15, but the marquee trio faltered at the entrance to Quail Hollow’s difficult closing three-hole stretch, known as the ‘Green Mile’.

All three left the 16th hole with double bogeys after McIlroy put his tee shot into the thick rough and Scheffler and Schauffele dumped their second shots into the water.

Later, both Scheffler and Schauffele voiced their frustrations at the decision not to allow ‘preferred lies’ on Thursday, following heavy rain in the build-up to the event.

The pair were particularly irked by their misfortune on the 16th hole when their balls picked up mud, which they claimed affected their next shots to the green. If preffered lies had been in place, they would have been allowed to lift, clean and replace their balls.

After a series of pars towards the end of his first round, five-time major winner McIlroy ended with another dropped shot on his final hole.

He hit just four of 14 fairways from the tee, a statistic he must improve if he is to move back into contention.

However, McIlroy has shown already this year that he can recover from a big first-round deficit to win one of the sport’s biggest prizes – he was seven shots behind Justin Rose after round one at the Masters before coming back to win the Green Jacket.

McIlroy’s second round set to begin at 18:47 BST on Friday.