The eager golf fans from County Kilkenny showed up Thursday at Mount Juliet, jazzed to get a first-hand look at young Rory McIlroy at this 2021 edition of the Irish Open.
Alas, there was nothing but disappointment from McIlroy as he basically looked like someone sleep-walking their way around the tree-lined, pond-laden Jack Nicklaus design that is about as far from a links course as you can get.
It didn’t take Rory long to make his first bogey of the day — it came at the par four second where he got out of position left with his tee shot then short-sided himself with the approach. Two putts from 20 feet and he was plus-one quicker than you could say “I need a Guinness!”
He got it back to even with a gem of a second into the par five fifth that left him with a seriously easy putt from 18-feet for eagle. Naturally Rory two-putted for birdie. He refused to stay at even par and promptly three-putted the par three sixth from 40 feet for bogey.
That’s how this day shaped up for Rory, who went out in the afternoon wave after Aussie Lucas Herbert set the target score early with an eight-under par 64.
“If you can’t score today, well, then you just can’t score,” was how one of the broadcast guys put it. No wind, temperatures in the 70s and a course that in no way resembled a firm and fast layout.
This one was scoring friendly and it showed.
American Johannes Veerman came in with 65, Scotland’s Grant Forrest turned in a 66. Tommy Fleetwood, who played in the afternoon feature three-some with Rory and defending champ John Catlin, was in a group of 15, yes 15 players who shot five-under par 67s. Catlin’s 69 kept him in the mix.
As for Rory, most of the 2,500 allowed on the course chose to follow him and there wasn’t much for them to whoop it up about. The home-country favorite did manage to find a couple of birdies over the final nine holes but he played the four par fives in just one-under par and his 72 left him eight short of Herbert, who shot his lowest round on the European Tour since September of 2019.
Herbert played the back nine first, made the turn in three-under with a bogey then tore it up with five birdies coming home, including three straight to end his round.
“I felt like I was trying to get to five or six-under and I didn’t really want to try and just attack really, really hard. It was just try and hit the ball in the right spots, give yourself some looks on the greens and I felt like if I could get to five or six-under that would be a really good day,” said Herbert, who won for the first time at the 2020 Dubai Desert Classic.
“A few more rolled in and I got to eight,” he added. “It’s a little bit tight in spots as well where you’re not taking driver and just sending it. You have to play to some positions. Second group out we were, the greens were unbelievable. I can’t remember putting on greens that nice.”
On Friday Rory went out in the early morning wave and cleaned up the old scorecard. He played the back nine first — four birdies for 32, then added another birdie at the 10th, setting the table for a possible really low round. Alas, Rory then finished with eight straight pars for a 67 that got him to five-under and in position to make a weekend move if he can stay bogey-free.
Defending champion John Catlin, who played the first two days with McIlroy, added a 68 to his opening 69 and moved to seven-under heading into the weekend.
Jin Young Ko Shoots 63 At Volunteers Of America:
Jin Young Ko’s long run, nearly two years, as the world’s No. 1 female player, ended last week when Nelly Korda won the PGA and leaped into the top ranking.
Unfazed, Ko went out and shot an eight-under par 63 at the Old American Golf Club Thursday on a steamy day at The Colony.
Ko took a ho-hum attitude about losing the top spot: “That’s fine,” Ko said. “And I’m still alive. So doesn’t matter really.”
Ko started her morning round with seven pars, made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-five 17th and played the final nine in 6-under 29 as the temperature climbed into the mid-90s.
Ko, who has a home in nearby Frisco, the new headquarters location for the PGA of America, was a shot in front of In Gee Chun and Jeongeun Lee6.
