Will a blister stop blistering McIlroy at the PGA Championship?

After defending his Masters title at Augusta National last month, world No 2 Rory McIlroy would have been hoping to continue his blistering form going into the PGA Championship beginning on Thursday. Instead, the Northern Irishman was forced to halt a practice round for the second Major of the year after only three holes at Aronimink on Tuesday due to a nagging right foot blister.

McIlroy said Sunday after limping through the final round of a PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow that he had a blister under his right pinky toenail that began hurting Friday.

He insisted it would not be a problem this week, but on Tuesday, McIlroy checked his right shoe several times before taking off his right shoe and sock on the fourth tee and was later taken in a cart back to the clubhouse, ending his first practice round of the week.

The 37-year-old, who had a practice round at Aronimink two weeks ago, told Golf Channel he had soaked his right foot on Monday night and removed the right pinky nail to better treat the blister.

Till Tuesday, the talking point at the PGA Championship was the venue, a formidable 7,394-yard, par-70 course with 174 bunkers scattered across the layout, featuring undulating greens at lightning-fast speeds.

Before his late-afternoon setback, McIlroy was talking about how to approach Aronimink with its difficult greens and wide landing areas for long drivers.

"Strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent. It's basically bash driver down there and then figure it out," McIlroy said.

"You can be super aggressive off the tee and then there's a little more strategy and thought going into the greens."

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, however, expected a tough test if possible rain on Wednesday and Thursday holds off.

"The greens have a lot of slope and a lot of pitch to them, so it's going to be challenging," Scheffler said. "If they can stay firm like this I think it's going to be a pretty awesome test... it can get really challenging if it's firm and fast."

Things can dramatically change, however, if soft greens become receptive.

"When it's soft, there's a lot of stuff you can get away with in terms of you can hit it pretty far offline," Scheffler said.

"Then with soft greens you're able to play a pretty simple strategy. You can play that sort of bomb-and-gouge-type strategy."

McIlroy’s blister worries have, for now, changed the course of conversation ahead of Wednesday's final practice day and Thursday's opening round, with the ace golfer scheduled to tee off at 8:40am (1240 GMT) alongside Spain's Jon Rahm and American Jordan Spieth.

Scheffler will play the first two days alongside England's Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Rose, the world number seven, warned Aronimink has some bite for wayward shots.

"The rough is definitely creeping up to the point where you've got to be respectful," Rose said. "The fairways are generous, but you still need to be on them."