In what has become familiar terrirtory Rory McIlroy, the Holywood man endured a frustrating start to a major tournament.
Starting on the back nine, McIlroy's bid for a third US PGA title in the space of five years began in underwhelming fashion, with the world number four missing from 10 feet on the 10th and six feet on the 11th before saving par from a greenside bunker on the next.
McIlroy then sacrificed a two shots on the next two holes, with wayward tee-shots and poor putting to blame.
After missing the green on the 13th, McIlroy duffed his chip from the rough and again failed to convert from six feet for par, before failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the next following a poor drive.
McIlroy struggles continued on the 16th when a poor tee shot found more sand and led to a third bogey of the day, before going on to miss from five feet for birdie on the 636-yard 17th and failed to birdie the par-five 18th as well following a wild drive into the trees.
At three over par, the 27-year-old was already eight shots off the pace being set by American Ryder Cup player Jimmy Walker, who had covered the back nine in four under and picked up another shot on the first.
McIlroy won the Irish Open in May and has recorded eight other top-10 finishes in strokeplay events in 2016, but failed to add to his tally of four major titles in the Masters, US Open and Open Championship.
However, the 27-year-old has a brilliant record in the US PGA after victories in 2012 and 2014 and three other top-eight finishes in seven appearances, and Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke believes another win is just around the corner.
"Rory can win any week," Clarke said. "He's been very close to playing really well for quite some time now. He just seems to have thrown in the odd not so good round and the putter hasn't really been behaving.
"But Rory is such a talent that he can win anywhere. When you have his ability to hit the ball as far as he does and as straight as he does, he can overpower any golf course.
"Just because he hasn't won since the Irish Open, I have no concerns whatsoever. It's only a matter of time before he wins again and it may well could be this week. And if it's not this week, it could be the next time he plays. He's that good."
Playing partner, and defending champion, Jason Day made light of his lack of preparation as the 98th US PGA Championship got under way on Thursday.
Day only managed one practice round at Baltusrol after catching a bug from his son Dash and then spending Tuesday night in hospital after his wife suffered an allergic reaction.
The 28-year-old world number one admitted he was "running on empty" after defending his Canadian Open title immediately after finishing 22nd in the Open at Troon, but there were few signs of that as he made an excellent start to the first round.
Day left a birdie putt inches short on the 10th but made no such mistake from 15 feet on the next to move to one under par, a shot off the early lead shared by Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Emiliano Grillo, Harris English and David Lingmerth.
Day then spurned further good chances on the 13th and 14th.
