Rory McIlroy’s evolution into a player who doesn’t mind what the weather gods fling at him was on show in a finely-crafted opening round at the Genesis Invitational. He shot a five-under-par 66 at Riviera Country Club that saw him sit a shot off the lead, held by England’s Aaron Rai.
While McIlroy showcased an ability to adapt in the weather disrupted first round, world number one Scottie Scheffler couldn’t get a handle on it at all as he slumped to a dismal start, five-over through 10 holes, before play was suspended and he was rescued from his travails.
For McIlroy, who had six birdies and a lone bogey, his mental game was every bit as strong as the variety of shots executed on the famed course in the Los Angeles suburbs.
“I’ve definitely got more comfortable playing in conditions like this over the past few years as I’ve gotten more comfortable in controlling my ball flight, and controlling my ball flight taking a lot more club, hitting the ball low,” explained McIlroy.
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“And I’ve started to just really enjoy this style of golf. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn’t enjoy these conditions, but it’s been a shift in a mindset and maybe just a continuation of trying to build upon the skill set that I have.”
That skill set was demonstrated with an ability to hit three-quarter shots time and time again in the difficult conditions, with the rain replaced by an ever strengthening wind. He pulled off a quite wonderful par save on the Par 3 sixth, shortly after he’d returned to the course following the first suspension in play, where he hit a wedge shot from the putting surface over the bunker located in the middle of the green to four feet and sank that putt.
“I really like tight lies. I practice my chipping a lot off greens back home because it really helps me control my low point and find the low point. If you can chip off of a really tight lie or a green like that, you can basically chip off any lie. So I do a lot of practice chipping off green, the practice green at home at the Bear’s Club. The superintendent probably doesn’t like it too much, but it helps,” said McIlroy.
Playing in the second of back-to-back $20 million signature events on the PGA Tour, Shane Lowry – who finished in the top-10 in Pebble Beach last week – shot a two-over-par 73 to lie in tied-54th albeit with 30 players, half the field, yet to complete their rounds.
One of those was leader Rai, who was six-under-par through 16 holes of his first round which gave him a one shot advantage over McIlroy and Jacob Bridgeman who held the clubhouse lead.
