So much for knowing what you’ll get in the desert. As the new-fangled designated elevated tournaments on the PGA Tour – with $20 million purses – swung into life with the WM Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course, early morning frost caused a delay of 90 minutes to a first round which then brought a cold, stiff wind to ask questions of players.
And world number one Rory McIlroy, normally one with most of the answers, was among those who struggled in the conditions as the Northern Irishman – playing for the first time on the US circuit this year but with a win in Dubai on the DP World Tour last month under his belt – had an adventurous, up-and-down round in ultimately signing for an opening two-over-par 73.
McIlroy, who started on the 10th with a par, was soon on the back foot however. A pulled drive down the left of the par-four 11th found the water hazard and led to an early bogey. He did manage to get back to parity with a birdie on the par-five 15th and then drove to the right of the short 337 yards par-four 17th and pitched to four feet to dip under par. It was to prove short lived.
On the 18th, McIlroy’s drive was pushed into the right rough and his approach came up short of the green from where he pitched to 14 feet but failed to make the par save. Then, on the first, he made it back-to-back bogeys where his drive down the left found the intermediate rough and he missed the green with his approach and failed to get up and down.
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With the wind causing difficulty on club selection and shot execution, McIlroy was caught out on the par-three seventh where his tee shot flew the green and he didn’t managed to get his recovery on to the putting surface. It led to yet another bogey, moving him to two over on his card.
McIlroy’s body language throughout a round that contained more than its fair share of errant shots was one that showed a mix of frustration and bemusement as he looked to caddie Harry Diamond for some reasoning behind such loose play.
He very nearly finished in style on the ninth, his closing hole, where McIlroy’s pitch from greenside rough ran up to the hole and hit the flagstick but refused to drop, leaving him a tap-in par putt to close out his round.
Shane Lowry, too, struggled. The Offaly man – starting his player-caddie partnership with veteran bagman Darren Reynolds – struggled and was three over par on his card through 11 holes (after bogeys on the fourth, ninth and 11th) but managed his first birdie of the round on the par-five 15th. However, Lowry’s tee shot on the drivable 17th found a bunker and he ran up a bogey five.
On the 18th, Lowry’s approach shot missed the green and he pitched to 10 feet but he missed the par putt and ultimately signed for a disappointing opening round of 74.
Séamus Power was on level par through 10 holes before darkness brought an early halt to proceedings.
The freshly-bearded Charley Hoffman, playing on a sponsor’s exemption after missing last year’s tournament due to injury, brought new impetus to his play. Without a win on tour since his 2016 Texas Open success, the 46-year-old Californian put together an impressive opening round of 68 – five birdies, two bogeys – to set the early clubhouse target.
“It was definitely blustery out there and tough, especially when you got to like 16 [the par-three hole known as The Coliseum), 17, and you don’t really know which direction it’s coming from ... I didn’t look at the forecast, so I didn’t know it was even projected to blow at all. It was sort of a shock to me, that that it really matters because you just play as it goes,” said Hoffman.
In describing many of the challenges in such conditions, Hoffman added: “To be honest, all of [the holes] are beasts. Left, right, downwind it’s too hard to hold the greens; into the wind it’s hard to get there. I think the tour did a pretty good job setting up the golf course with the wind. I know they changed one pin on 15 because of the wind, but you know what, it’s a tough test.”
