Rory McIlroy shows true colours after responding to 'special' miss in best way

Rory McIlroy is keen to make his mark at this week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, in a bid to put the disappointment of last week's Irish Open behind him.

McIlroy looked set to secure victory at Royal County Down last Sunday, however a stuttered finish in the final round saw him miss out on his home title by a single shot to Rasmus Hojgaard. The event is close to the heart of McIlroy, who described his victory in Ireland in 2016 as 'very special' having took the crown in front of his close friends and family.

This made last week's near-miss all the harder to take for McIlroy, who fell less than inch from forcing a playoff with Hojgaard after seeing an eagle putt at the 72nd hole of the tournament just slide by.

"I'm getting used to it unfortunately this year," McIlroy said post-tournament of falling just short, having done so at the US Open and Olympic Games this campaign.

"Hopefully the tide is going to turn pretty soon, and I can turn all these close calls into victories."

He will be hoping this tide changes at Wentworth this week, having got off to a strong start in the opening round of the DP World Tour's flagship event. McIlroy carded seven birdies and two bogeys on the way to carding an eventful five-under-par 67, which included a left-handed putt and a broken club head.

This leaves the 35-year-old just two shots off the first round leader Matthew Baldwin, who is sat at the top alone at seven-under. Leaving himself right in the mix, it was a succesful opening day in Surrey for McIlroy, who is looking to use his disappointment in Ireland as a force for good.

"The nice thing about disappointments is that if you have something in this next week, it's nice to keep busy and keep your mind focused on something else," he told reporters post-round. And whilst he leaves his name well in the mix heading into Friday, McIlroy believes things could have been even better.

"Yeah, pleased with it," he said of his day one showing. "Maybe could have been a little bit better but really solid start. It's a golf course where you've got a lot of birdieable holes but then this was a stretch, especially today on the back nine where you had some tough ones in a row, and trying to navigate those is important."

"So yeah, overall, probably a fair reflection of how I played. Yeah, hopefully go out tomorrow and shoot something similar, a little lower, and have a real chance going into the weekend."

A victory this week would go along way to helping him get his hands on a sixth Race to Dubai title, which would level his tally with the great Seve Ballesteros, and move him closer to all-timer leader Colin Montgomerie who has eight.

"It's important in the overall scheme of any year because of where I find myself in The Race to Dubai," McIlroy added. "I'm trying to win that for the sixth time, and what that would mean to me, being alongside Seve and keeping closer to Monte and all that stuff. It's a big tournament in that regard, and obviously a big tournament to try to be as resilient as possible after last week and move on."