‘Angry’ Rory McIlroy chucking clubs again during marathon golf run

Rory McIlroy likely faces a fine from the European Tour for throwing a club in anger while carding a 1-under 71 in the first round at Wentworth on Thursday. But the world No. 1 is probably less concerned about opening his well-stuffed wallet than about the mental lethargy that caused the weak club toss and a scrambling start to the defense of his BMW PGA Championship title.

“Physically, I’m all right.” McIlroy told reporters after a round that featured four birdies and three bogeys. “Mentally, I feel myself getting a bit angry out there, which I haven’t been doing the last few weeks,”

“I just sort of need to stay in control of my emotions because I feel like that’s one of the things, if I’m a little tired or a little fatigued mentally, I’ll start to be hard on myself and start to get down on myself,” added the jet-setter, who is playing the fourth of five tournaments in as many weeks. “Try not to do that over the next few days. Just try and get as much rest as I’ve been getting and I should be okay. I just need to try to keep everything on an even keel out there.”

McIlroy is no stranger to recent brief bouts of temper. He finished T9 after heaving his 3-iron into a lake at Doral.

At least this time, no scuba diver was needed to retrieve the offending stick.

Still, the victor of two of his last three starts has been in overdrive on and off the course. After winning last week at Quail Hollow, McIlroy hopped on a private jet from North Carolina to London for a sponsor’s event at Niketown on Monday. He followed that up by accepting the European Tour’s Player and Golfer of the Year Awards for 2014, when he won two majors.

McIlroy will travel from England to Ireland, where he’ll host next week’s Irish Open, and then take a two-week break before the U.S. Open, so he should be just fine.

In the meantime, added to the marathon he’s running inside the ropes that will involve more than 400 holes in his five-week run, the extracurricular activities appeared to be taking their toll on the 26-year-old from Northern Ireland.

Starting the day six shots back of 18-hole leader Robert Karlsson, McIlroy appeared flat as he found almost all the sand he could early into his second round on Friday. He found three separate bunkers on the par-4 third hole alone, resulting in a bogey.

Certainly not the best of starts on Friday for McIlroy, who had to settle for par on the par-4 fourth, which at that point was the easiest hole on the course.

“My relationship with the course is good,” he said on Thursday. “I’ve just got to grind and bear it and move on.”

Not many grins from Rory early into Friday’s round two, but no club chucking yet, either.

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