British Open Favorite Rory McIlroy Has Absolute Nightmare Start to Tournament
The British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland could not have gotten off to a worse start for tournament favorite and local hero Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, pulled his drive on the 420-yard par-4 first hole out of bounds — with an iron.
That meant he had to take a penalty and tee off again, now hitting his third shot. The third shot stayed in bounds but went into the rough, buried deep in the grass.
Here’s Rory McIlroy’s opening tee ball that went OB on Thursday morning at Portrush.
It was a quadruple-bogey start for the Ulsterman. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/nzxm2G4UXI
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) July 18, 2019
He hacked out, but the grass pulled his shot left into even deeper grass. He found the ball but it was unplayable, so he had to take another penalty shot.
Now he was hitting his sixth shot. McIlroy managed to chip up on to the green, but he missed a six-foot putt and had to tap in for a quadruple-bogey 8.
A breakdown of @McIlroyRory‘s breakdown:
Quadruple Bogey on No. 1 at #TheOpen
1. OB
2. Penalty
3. Provisional to rough
4. Iron to left-hand rough
5. Unplayable lie/drop
6. Sand wedge from bunker to 7-feet.
7. Missed putt
8. Tap holeStory: https://t.co/GIoJQOiuh5
— Golfweek (@golfweek) July 18, 2019
It could not be a more disappointing start for the man who was the favorite going in and set the course record of 61 when he was just 16 years old.
McIlroy went on to bogey the third hole to fall to 5-over par. He battled back with two birdies to get to 3-over but then had a disastrous double-bogey on 16 to go back to 5-over.
Here’s Rory McIlroy’s absolutely brutal three-putt for double bogey from close range at 16.
Don’t try this at home. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/Mk5bCI8Kyc
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) July 18, 2019
On the par-3 16th, McIlroy missed a pretty straight forward four-footer for par, then nonchalantly went for the tap-in from a few inches out and missed that, too.
His troubles weren’t over yet.
On the 465-yard par 4 18th hole, McIlroy finished his round almost as bad as he started it — carding a triple-bogey 7.
McIlroy shoots 79 (+8) on day one at Royal Portrush. He began with a quadruple-bogey and ended with a triple. Nightmare #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/xJ3pZDninz
— Golf Monthly (@GolfMonthly) July 18, 2019
He finished the round with an 8-over round of 79. He’s 12 shots behind leader Shane Lowry of Ireland and, barring a miraculous round Friday, won’t make the cut.
“Whenever you play your first and last holes at a combined 7-over par, it’s going to be a pretty tough day,” McIlroy told NBC’s Jimmy Roberts after the round.
Alex Noren, Sergio Garcia, Dylan Frittelli, Webb Simpson, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Robert MacIntyre were all in the clubhouse at 3-under.
Play is ongoing with Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and many others still on the course.
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