All eyes were on him.
He carried the hopes of Northern Ireland on his shoulders Thursday at Royal Portrush and the 148th Open Championship brought instant disaster for the country’s most decorated player.
Rory McIlroy crashed and burned, instantly, on the first hole of this Open Championship.
The player who shot 61 on this marvelous links course as a teenager, fell flat on his face right out of the box on Thursday.
The crowd surrounding the first tee was horrified as their hero’s opening tee shot sailed dangerously left, too far left. McIlroy’s iron shot was on the wrong side of the out-of-bounds stakes and the groan might have been heard all the way to Belfast.
It got worse from there. Rory’s third went left again, into the gnarly rough. From there his fourth found the really deep stuff left of the elevated green. Totally unplayable. After his drop, his sixth got within six feet. But everyone knew what was coming. Of course he missed it and tapped in for eight.
You think there are no snowmen in the summer in Northern Ireland? Rory built one for ’em.
Another bogey at the third and everyone’s favorite son was suddenly five over after three. Rory had to find two birdies to shoot 39 going out.
He steadied himself enough to roll off six pars coming hole then came the 16th. He had a three-footer for par, missed it, then missed an eight-inch tap-in. A double there then a mind-boggling triple to finish his round stunned thousands of Rory supporters.
Shocking? Not really.
McIlroy blew one out-of-bounds right to start his Wednesday practice round.
You think that was in his head Thursday? No doubt about it.
“I sort of leaked one right yesterday in the practice round, so I was trying to guard against that a little bit,” McIlroy admitted. ” A little bit too much right hand and got the ball going left.”
“That might have been in my head a little bit,” McIlroy said of his OB three-wood from Wednesday.
McIlroy tried to shake it off: “If anything, it settled me down,” he claimed. “I wanted to play well. I thought I showed some resilience in the middle of the round.”
Oh but that finish!
There was no excuse for this one. It started with the snowman and ended with a triple. In all, Rory was nine-over on three holes.
It added up to 79 and that tied him for 150th in a 156-man field. Those good folks who planned on watching Rory over the weekend may want to find another player to pin their hopes on.
Rory let them down, badly.
Some felt this could be a boom or bust week for McIlroy.
The bust came earlier than expected.
The old saying in major championship golf is that you cannot win a major on the first day, but you can sure lose one.
Rory didn’t waste any time losing this one.
It was a quick, swift stunning meltdown.
Nick Faldo tried to provide some early hope. “I started double-double at Birkdale (1983) and on Sunday on the back nine I was tied for the lead.”
Faldo lost that one to Tom Watson.
And despite Faldo’s feat, it’s looking like there will be no Sunday at Royal Portrush for Rory McIlroy.
4 Comments
baxter cepeda
Rory did show some resilience after the first hole disaster, but also showed a lot of give up, especially with that missed tap in.
It is wired but what a test for players to see OB on both sides starting a major. Like I always say, golf pundits always focus on the guys who blow up last, when the most fascinating ones happen early on the first day, ala tiger and Rory day 1 at Portrush.
Tom Edrington
Rory sure gave it his all…..but he’ll look back and know that blown tap-in on the 16th cost him the weekend at Portrush. Sad.
baxter cepeda
He was awesome Friday
Tom Edrington
Once the pressure was off…..