Solid start pleases McIlroy
A year after being frustrated by his inability to cope with the wind and rain at Royal St George’s, McIlroy returned a relaxed figure, in command of his game for the most part in a round that finished with a birdie at the last and left him at three under par, three shots off the overnight lead of Australia’s Adam Scott.
“I think we had it maybe slightly tougher than the guys in the morning, and 67 was a score I’m very pleased with,” McIlroy said last night. “It was great. I felt like I didn’t miss many fairways. I didn’t miss many greens. I felt like it was pretty much under control. I missed a couple of shots, but you’re not going to hit every shot good out there. I’d rate it pretty high at the moment.”
The missed shots included an errant tee shot on 15 that ricocheted out of bounds off a teenage spectator’s head.
Jason Blue, 16, was gushing red but had already been bandaged by the time McIlroy made his apologies with a signed glove that read “Sorry” with an accompanying sad face. The Irishman took a drop and scrambled to a double-bogey six.
McIlroy was also composed enough to add two more birdies, finishing his round with a delightful iron approach at the 18th which he converted from six feet.
“It’s not going to be this easy for the rest of the week so I’m happy with the score that I’ve shot, and it’s a great position heading into the second day,” he said.
Scott will take a one-shot lead over Belgium’s Volvo World Match Play champion Nicolas Colsaerts, 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie of Scotland and 2007 Masters winner Zach Johnson of the US into today’s play following an opening 64 yesterday, six under par.
McDowell, McIlroy, Ernie Els, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods were the quartet of major winners on three under, as was Japan’s Toshinori Muto and Americans Brandt Snedeker and Steve Stricker, while two-time Open champion Pádraig Harrington also birdied 18 for a level-par 70.
After a week of rain-drenched practice rounds, the opening day had started in benign if overcast conditions with not a breath of wind coming off the Irish Sea and onto the Lancashire links.
Scott, 32 last Monday yet still to win a major in an as yet unfulfilled career, was the golfer to take most advantage of the reprieve.
McIlroy was not faced with the gusts that hampered his progress in the tournament a year ago but the Holywood star did cop the only rain of the day and a much stiffer breeze than the morning starters experienced.
His side of the draw, which also includes Harrington, world number one Luke Donald (70) and Phil Mickelson (73) are also set to get the worst of today’s weather, the morning tee times most likely getting the worst of the day’s rain.
Regardless, both McDowell and Scott were not expecting the rest of the tournament to feature such favourable conditions as the first morning.
“It was a pretty benign start to the week,” McDowell said following his six-birdie, three-bogey 67.
“I’m in no illusion that this golf course has teeth, though. But benign conditions this morning, and it was nice to take advantage of them.”
Scott echoed McDowell’s forecast, saying: “This round gives me a little bit of confidence going into the next three rounds but I’m not really expecting it to play like this at all. It was just like a nice walk in the park today, and it was not what we’ve experienced in the practice rounds.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some weather elements thrown at us the next three days. So I’m just going to have to knuckle down to handle that. But I’m confident.’’
McDowell, too, had every reason to feel satisfied with his day’s work. His first bogey came at the par-four sixth but was followed by a hat-trick of birdies, the last of which was inches away from being an ace at the par-three ninth.
“My tee shot to nine was pretty cool, 165 a little downwind, it was a perfect eight iron for me. I thought I made it for a second, but it really is a game of two halves, this golf course. You turn back into this back nine and it’s a stiff test, there’s no doubt about it. I hit it a little scrappy coming in, but all in all really, really happy with three under par. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t challenge, but I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Lytham will provide more of a test today on a course that even at its most benign posed serious questions of some of the best golfers in the world, including world number three and English hope Lee Westwood, who shot 73, while defending champion Darren Clarke posted a 76.
“Every tee shot is a conundrum,” McDowell said having earlier in the week described Lytham as a “chess player’s course”.
“There are so many ways to play this course, and there’s so many ways to not play it; 18 is a real tough tee shot. There’s no doubt about it, it’s a jigsaw piece down there, and you’ve got to position it in one of the jigsaw pieces.”
Was McDowell good at jigsaws, he was asked. “I hope so,” he responded.
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