McIlroy quietly goes about tying Tiger at the top

It may have been one of the most over overshadowed 62s in golf history. And after torching Aronimink Golf Club in round one of the BMW Championship Thursday, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy admitted that he was actually thinking about breaking 60. Rarefied air indeed. “You don’t get many opportunities to break 60 and (Thursday) was one of them, and I didn’t capitalize,” he said.

McIlroy had to settle for 8-under and a share of the lead with Tiger Woods, who had the more heralded 62 of the day. Afterward, McIlroy explained how he was actually able to carry over some momentum from his practice round the day before. If you count the end of his Wednesday Pro-Am round and his start Thursday, McIlroy played a 23-hole stretch in 17-under-par.

“Oh, that’s pretty good,” McIlroy said. “My stroke average in Pro-Ams is probably about 75.7, so I don’t really carry much momentum from Wednesday to Thursday at any point. Maybe I should try a little harder on Wednesdays. It seemed to work this time.”

With six straight birdies when it counted, however, in the middle of his opening round, McIlroy vaulted into the lead. He lost it with back-to-back bogeys soon after, but regrouped to finish with a birdie at the par-5 ninth to get back into a share of the lead.

“I made a birdie on the fifth hole, my 14th, to get to 9-under, and I’m thinking, ‘OK, two of the last four holes to break 60, and I just hit a bad tee shot on 6,” he said. “Look, geez, if someone had given me a 62 on the first tee this morning, I would have taken it. So it’s a great way to start the tournament.”

••• “Most of the information — about 90 percent — that I have is proprietary and we will not let anybody know. I’m trying my best to keep it a secret as much as possible.”

It sounds like something you would hear from the CIA. Something to do with the nuclear launch codes, perhaps?

Actually, it was Bryson DeChambeau. The 24-year-old is having a breakout season, and because he has such a unique, simplified swing — in addition to a complicated approach to the mental side of the game — he is drawing more and more attention from fellow competitors on the PGA Tour.

“(The remaining) 10 percent I love throwing out there and giving everybody a little thought of something that’s a little different and unique,” he added.

DeChambeau came to Aronimink with three wins this season, including each of the last two weeks. He is so far ahead of the pack in the FedExCup race, he could finish last at the BMW Championship and still be the top seed for the Tour Championship in two weeks.

DeChambeau carded a 3-under 67 Thursday and is tied for 20th place. He is on schedule to play an astounding 57 tournaments since the start of 2017, and admitted he’s more mentally stressed than anything.