SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Rory McIlroy came into the PGA Championship confident in the way he was playing and was saying that he felt Baltusrol was set up well for him. That didn't appear to be the case on Thursday as he opened his quest for a third PGA Championship with a 4-over 74.

McIlroy failed to make a birdie in the first round, which is only the fourth time he's ever done that in a major round. The putter was what let McIlroy down all day, as he looked uncomfortable with the green speeds, missing most of his putts short or on the low side and failing to keep the proper pace up. His -3.9 strokes gained putting on Thursday was the second-worst in the field at the time of his round's completion.

The putting woes began on McIlroy's first nine -- he started on 10 -- as he missed some very makeable putts, including a short downhill birdie putt on 17 that he left inches short, and continued through the front nine. The 2012 and 2014 PGA champion was simply not sharp with any aspect of his short game with -0.7 strokes gained around the greens to go along with his poor putting.

He was long and pretty straight off of the tee hitting 9-of-14 fairways in regulation. His ball striking was also pretty solid, as he hit 13-of-18 greens in regulation. But at Baltusrol, positioning matters on the large greens and when he did give himself a 10-footer for birdie -- like on 17 and 4 -- he never capitalized.

While McIlroy sputtered, he watched Phil Mickelson charge back from a similar 4-over number with three birdies on the front nine to post a 1-over 71 and remain at least within reach of the field. The third member of the group, Jason Day, fired a 2-under 68 as he was by far the most consistent and played with the best quality of the trio.

Day is in contention and Mickelson is a one day charge away from it, but McIlroy will spend the night thinking about trying to see the weekend, much less be in contention come Sunday afternoon.

They say you can't win a major on the first day, but you can lose one. After a 74 on Thursday with Baltusrol yielding a number of under par scores in the morning wave, that seems to be what McIlroy's done to himself.