Fact of the matter is that if world No. 1 Rory McIlroy had his druthers, he wouldn’t be at this week’s Phoenix Open.
There was no begging off this week as Rory used his one Designated Event “opt-out” for the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
He opened with a yawner of a 73 Thursday at TPC Scottsdale, where he’s only showed up once in the past.
Rory said matter-of-factly this week that the course is not quite his cup of tea. “Yeah, look, I wouldn’t say that this is a golf course that sets up terribly well for me. I struggle off the tee here. I feel like all the fairway bunkers are right in my landing zones,” McIlroy said after hitting only four of 14 fairways on Thursday. “But it’s a challenge, and again, like I’m trying to embrace that challenge.”
Thursday was a challenge for everyone. Start of play was delayed an hour and 45 minutes due to frost on the greens.
Add winds in the 15-20 miles-per-hour range and it’s a formula for a McIlroy struggle. Rory’s day began on the 10th hole. He was even for the round coming to the short, par four 17th. A birdie there got him into red numbers but he gave it right back with a bogey at 18 then a second straight at the first hole. Rory went birdie-less coming home and signed for that two-over number.
“I felt like I hit it OK. It was hard, I’ve been struggling with the left miss a little bit, so last week I was doing a lot of sort of trying to clear my body and almost trying to just hit like little fades, and there was a ton of left-to-right winds out there today, so it really felt like my ball (was) just going on those left-to-right winds pretty hard and just never really got a handle on it,” he said.
Rory’s only appearance came in 2021 and he finished tied for 13th. He’ll have to play better on Friday to make the 36-hole cut in this $20 million event. “Yeah, look, not an event I historically play,” McIlroy added. “But I feel like I’m a good enough player to figure it out and contend and win on any golf course.”
As it turned out Rory’s entire threesome rode The Struggle Bus on day one. Collin Morikawa signed for 73 and Hikeki Matsuyama finished at three-over, 74.
David Kocher Leads Astara Championship In Bogota:
The Korn Ferry Tour is visiting Columbia this week at the Country Club de Bogota and David Kocher was the first round leader with an eight-under par 62 on the Pacos course.
The field is playing two courses, the shorter, easier Pacos and the Lagos. Kocher took advantage of the Pacos.
“I hit a lot of really good shots, hit a lot of really good chips. I played the shorter course today, so you’re driving it right up next to the greens. Had some short-sided chips, hit a few tight and tapped in a few times. Changed putters yesterday, so rolled it a lot better today than I did last week and earlier this week,” Kocher said after his career-low round.
Seventeen of the 18 lowest scores relative to par Thursday came from the Pacos course; the exception was Joey Garber (T9), who carded a 5-under 66 on the Lagos course
Abel Gallegos (T3), a 21-year-old Argentine and last week’s 36-hole leader, firef a six-under 64 and leads the 18 players in the field representing Latin American countries and territories.
