It’s different with a scorecard in your back pocket, as Rory McIlroy discovered in a disastrous first round of the US Open as his title aspirations disintegrated with an exhibition of wild driving off the tee.
Whatever cobwebs had accumulated in McIlroy’s enforced absence from tournament play, as he recuperated from the reoccurrence of his rib injury, hadn’t been cleaned away and the world number two ran up a horrid opening round of six-over-par 78. It left him all of 13 strokes behind first round leader Rickie Fowler.
Apart from a sensational eagle two on the Par 4 second, McIlroy’s driving was all over the place. He only hit five of 14 fairways in a round during which he spent a lot of the time trudging forlornly into the fescue rough in search of one wayward drive after another.
And his lack of tournament sharpness was evident in a back nine of 42 strokes that featured two double-bogey sixes – on the 15th and 17th – as his march for home turned into a waddle. The 78 constituted his worse US Open career score.
McIlroy, playing in only his seventh tournament of a year that has been badly disrupted by a rib injury, had recuperated in Portugal for two weeks before arriving here in Wisconsin last Friday for a meticulous preparation programme that had sent him to the first tee in confident form, a mood improved with that eagle two on the second.
In refusing to blame that rib injury – “No, that’s all totally fine. I was hacking around in the rough out there and didn’t feel it one bit” – McIlroy admitted that the real issue was that his “timing was a little bit off, and that was it. Just really bad tee shots which led to not being able to give myself many looks for birdies.”
The kernel of his problem was that his driving was erratic. Too often, the marshals on the tee boxes were moving their boards either left or right to indicate another wayward drive into the fescue. “You cannot play this golf course if you’re not in position off the tee, and I wasn’t in position. Obviously, I paid the price for it,” he said.
Although he faces a tough ask if he is to survive the cut, which features the top 60 and ties, McIlroy – who was 143rd of the 156 players after the first round – claimed: “I feel like I’m capable. As I said, I just need to get the ball on the fairway. If I get the ball on the fairway, I can give myself some chances and some looks at birdies . . . there are a lot of things that I could have done better today, obviously. Just have to try to go out (in the second round) and rectify those.”
It was a much better opening day for Shane Lowry – the 30-year-old carding a one under par round of 71.
The Offalyman began strong with two birdies in his first six holes and then made nine pars in a row – generally like gold dust at a US Open but not quite so much this year with Erin Hills, on the first day at least, playing considerably easier than a regular venue for the second major of the year.
Bogeys at the seventh and eighth – his 16th and 17th – threatened to derail a good opening round in what’s fast becoming Lowry’s favourite major after a tied 9th finish in 2015 and a second place at Oakmont last year.
However, a beautiful approach to the short par three ninth was followed up by a seven foot putt into the middle of the cup to leave him tied-29th heading into Friday.
