McIlroy builds 'great platform'

Rory McIlroy feels says he feels "comfortable" on the Kiawah Island course but is bracing himself for some bad weather.

One behind US-based Swede Carl Pettersson after starting the USPGA Championship - golf's final major of the year - with a five-under-par 67, McIlroy was in no mood to make any bold predictions.

"We know that there's going to be a bit of wind coming in and maybe a bit of bad weather," the 23-year-old Northern Irishman said.

"It's just something that you're going to have to deal with and I'm just happy that I got off to a great start - I have a great platform to go from.

"Hitting balls on the range there was completely no wind. It was flat calm and I really thought that I had to take advantage of the conditions.

"I'm pretty comfortable on the golf course. I played nine holes on Monday, nine holes on Tuesday and that was it.

"I didn't feel like I needed to play any more. I've got my lines off the tees and I know what it's like around the greens.

"I think that was any first bogey-free round in a while, and it's always nice to shoot a round with no bogeys.

"I've had my fair share of weeks where I've started well and had a couple of bad rounds. I think that's just golf.

"You get weeks where you're feeling good and you're playing well and you're just able to keep rolling and continue the momentum from one day to the next. Hopefully this is one of these weeks."

McIlroy worked with putting coach Dave Stockton in Akron last week, but it was more than just technical stuff.

"He sort of said to me, 'Just go out there and have fun and enjoy it and smile'. That's something that I've really tried to do and it's definitely helped."