The cynics with no hearts will tell you that sympathy can be found in a dictionary. At Royal County Down on Thursday Rory McIlroy found it in a different place: pity, empathy, compassion – call it what you will – escaped from the very pores of those in the packed gallery and directed to him as he walked off the ninth green after a horrendous opening round 80, nine-over-par.
It wasn't supposed to be like this! Not here, not now; especially not in this new era for his tournament. As its new host, and the most popular golfer on the planet with pals Sergio, Rickie, Ernie and others answering the call to play, McIlroy could have expected some good karma to come his way. Not a bit of it, as yet again the Irish Open proved to be a torment rather than a pleasure when it came to the matter of number crunching.
McIlroy has missed the cut in his last two Irish Opens – at Carton House in 2013 and at Fota Island last year – and the odds are again against him surviving into the weekend. His back is to the wall. “I want to go out there (on Friday) and fight for it and try to claw my way back up towards the cut line,” he said, with determination rather than resignation. “I’ll go to the gym and mentally regroup and then get ready.”
Over the years, since he was a young gun arriving on to the scene, McIlroy has endured a tough old time of it in the Irish Open. It started as an amateur in 2005 at Carton House with a missed cut that included a second-round 81, his worst score in the tournament. This first round 80, though, was in its way much harder to take: a four-time Major champion, the world number one and the dominant player of his generation, McIlroy was made to look and act like a mere mortal. He hadn’t signed for an 80 since his Masters meltdown of 2011.
The figures made for harsh reading. He found only six of 14 fairways, hit just nine of 18 greens in regulation and – hands over the ears time – took 36 putts. When it came to scrambling, he managed to save par just once from nine up-and-downs. An 80, what is known in the trade as having a snowman.
Rickie Fowler, his pal, watched most of the horror show. On the ninth green, handshake time, he stopped McIlroy to have a few words in his ear. "I really just said, 'let's go get after it tomorrow'. I've been there plenty of times. Everyone who plays golf at a high level, at a low level, whatever, has good days and bad days . . . (Friday) is a new day. It's tough to see. You don't want to see someone struggle," said Fowler.
“Yes, Rory is an outstandingly special player, but I am not surprised to see anybody struggling,” said Graeme McDowell, adding: “With his level of responsibilities this week, he can be let off the hook for maybe not having his 100 per cent total focus it has been a hard undertaking and we thank him dearly because he has really elevated this tournament and it is what it needed.”
Pádraig Harrington too could empathise. “Rory knows this game is about preparation. Maybe this week has been a step too far. He’s given so much to the Irish Open, he’s had a lot of distraction. We’re all grateful, as Irish pros for what he’s done. Maybe it’s been a bit of a sacrifice for him,” he said.
McIlroy may have had the appreciation of his fellow tour players and of the huge galleries, but his payback for all the pre-tournament work and organisation was to endure a horrid time on the course in the first round as he failed to manufacture a single birdie in a round that featured a run of four straight bogeys – from the 15th, his sixth hole – which led to an eerie quiet from the clearly stunned galleries.
On that front nine, McIlroy missed no fewer than six putts from inside six feet as the putter betrayed him. As he half-joked afterwards, demonstrating his ability to at least find some humour in the situation, his game deteriorated the closer he got to the green. Another bad day at the office in an Irish Open for McIlroy, not the day he wanted to remember.
“As I got closer to the green, the worse it got,” admitted McIlroy. “My putting and my speed was off. I wasn’t reading them properly. I sort of lost confidence in the greens as the round went on. Nothing went right . . . it’s my fifth week in a row and I’m not saying I felt flat but just sort of trying to muster something up to get myself going and to get some momentum was difficult.”
McIlroy at the Irish Open
2014 Fota Island 74-69 Missed Cut
2013 Carton House 74-72 Missed Cut
2012 Royal Portrush 70-69-71-67 Tied-10th
2011 Killarney 70-68-72-71 Tied-34th
2010 Killarney 67-68-76-71 Tied-35th
2009 Baltray 69-68-76-75 Tied-50th
2008 Adare Manor 70-72-70-70 8th
2005* Carton House 71-81 Missed Cut
*amateur
