Rory McIlroy unintentionally accomplished something extremely rare on the golf course on Thursday: his 9-iron head broke off during a shot at the BMW PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy overcame the shock of breaking a club midshot to card an opening 67 in the BMW PGA Championship.In an incident-packed round at Wentworth, McIlroy also had to hit a putt left-handed, saw his tee shot on the 17th bounce out of the trees and then hit his approach to the 18th out of bounds.

Rory McIlroy lost the club head on his 9-iron and then lost the lead by going out of bounds on the last hole in shooting an eventful 5-under 67 in the first round of the BMW PGA Championship.

England's Matthew Baldwin eclipsed a powerful field to lead the BMW PGA Championship by one stroke after the first round at Wentworth on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre and Shane Lowry all card opening-round 67s at Wentworth to sit two strokes behind leader Matthew Baldwin on seven under; defending champion Ryan Fox starts with a one-under 71;

Rory McIlroy says breaking his club on the 12th hole of his opening round in the PGA Championship at Wentworth was "a weird feeling".

Rory McIlroy admitted he had endured a "weird" opening day at the European Tour's PGA Championship on Thursday which saw him break a club mid-shot and have to putt left-handed.