Magical McIlroy shows mettle after the meltdown
There had been fears in the aftermath of his final-round 81 at Augusta National, when McIlroy had held the lead for 63 holes, only to fall apart with a triple-bogey seven at the 10th, that the Holywood golfer, then 21, would not be able to fulfil his considerable potential, that the mental scars would run too deep.
On the evidence of McIlroy’s opening flourish at Congressional Country Club near Washington DC last night, the mettle of the Irish boy wonder has been severely underestimated.
McIlroy stormed into a two-stroke lead over the field on the par-71 Blue Course, playing yesterday at 7,514 yards, having reached five under par after 14 holes with no bogeys and some immaculate play in all facets of his game.
What is more, playing in a marquee group in which Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were spraying the ball all over the place from their first tee shot onwards, McIlroy was staying focused and disciplined amidst the mayhem surrounding him.
He simply didn’t miss a shot over his opening holes as Mickelson double bogeyed their first hole, the par-three 10th having visited the water, and Johnson triple bogeyed the par-four second.
McIlroy rattled in his first birdie of the day at the par-four 12th, his third and scored a huge morale boost at the 14th when he sank a 30-footer for par.
Consecutive birdies at the 17th, 18th and 1st holes saw the Irishman overtake clubhouse leader YE Yang, who had shot a three-under 68, and when McIlroy continued the barrage by sending in his approach at the par-four fourth to 18 inches, he moved two shots clear with five to play but with a weather warning threatening a delay in play.
McIlroy missed another birdie chance from 12 feet at the fifth but he was firmly in the groove approaching the final four holes.
McIlroy was bringing the curtain down on a fascinating day’s golf that had started with an Irishman in the very first group of the day, Shane Lowry getting his US Open debut off to an encouraging start with a one-over-par 72 that finished with a birdie on 18.
Pádraig Harrington was also pleased with his level-par 71 while Graeme McDowell launched the defence of his US Open title, unburdened by the past and looking to the future with a measured one-under-par 71.
Yang, who had become the first Asian-born major winner when he outscored overnight leader Tiger Woods at Hazeltine in the 2009 US PGA, was the pick of the morning wave, the Korean posting a 68.
He was being matched by Sergio Garcia, the Spaniard who came through qualifying to make the field. Garcia, alongside fellow Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alvaro Quiros, looked right at home as he reached three under after 11, only to drop a shot at 14.
Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, in the same group as fellow major winner McDowell, posted a 69 to leave him two under in the clubhouse but the marquee European grouping of the world’s numbers one, two and three-ranked players in the world fared less well.
Number one Luke Donald posted a 74, as did number three Kaymer, with No. 2 Westwood carding 75.
“A tough day,” Westwood said. “I just didn’t play very well. You have days like that. You don’t drive it in the fairway often enough and hit too many bad shots. I kept getting in front of it. I tried hard on every shot and it just didn’t work out.
“I’ll shoot a better score tomorrow hopefully.”
Donald, who claimed the number one spot from Westwood after beating him in a play-off at Wentworth last month to take the BMW PGA Championship, echoed his rival’s sense of frustration.
“Everyone knows it is going to get tougher. If I can plug away and shoot some good scores I’m right there,” Donald said.
“I didn’t play like I felt I could play but I’ll go and find something on the range and be back tomorrow. The rough is good. You are seeing some birdies out there and I think the course is set up well. I just didn’t take advantage. I had a couple of poor drives. It wasn’t just the driving. A couple of times I was in good position and made mistakes I usually wouldn’t make.
“I’ve played enough US Opens and majors to know that if I shoot something in the red I’m putting myself back in position.”
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