US OPEN: Putting woes leave McIlroy with plenty to do

Rory McIlroy will have to start putting much better over the next three days if he is to add to his haul of major championship victories here at Chambers Bay after a disappointing opening round at the 115th US Open Championship.

The world number one and four-time major champion shot a less than stellar two-over-par 72 on the links by Puget Sound in America’s Pacific Northwest, a round featuring two birdies, four bogeys and 30 putts that sent him back to the practice putting green immediately after the Irishman had completed his post-round media commitments.

“They are not the best greens I have putted on but I should be used to it as the last two tournaments I’ve played have been just as bad,” said McIlroy, who missed the cut in both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Irish Open at Royal County Down.

“I felt like my strategy today was good and I gave myself plenty of chances from the fairways. It was just down to putting today. I didn’t putt well enough and I need to put that right over the next three days,” McIlroy said.

“It’s tough to commit to your lines when the greens are... they’re not bad surfaces but it’s very difficult to commit to your lines out there and I made a couple of bad strokes coming in and dropped a couple of shots but hopefully I can get those back tomorrow.

“A round in the mid-60s was definitely out there, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson have shown that. The conditions were very benign with no wind so you could really take advantage out there today but obviously I didn’t so I’m a little bit disappointed not to have got a better score.”

McIlroy, the 2011 US Open champion, will start today’s second round at Chambers Bay seven shots adrift of the aforementioned Johnson and Stenson, who each shot five-under 65s to share the early clubhouse lead last night before the late wave of starters got their opening rounds under way.

McIlroy, a three-time winner this season already but coming into this week’s second major of the year on the back of consecutive missed cuts at Wentworth and Royal County Down, had got his championship off to a solid start from the 10th tee.

He parred the first and then got up and running with a birdie at the par-three 11th, an excellent tee shot rolling back to eight feet from the hole, from where he sank the birdie putt.

The putting woes kicked in four holes later, however, McIlroy three-putting for bogey at the par-four 15th to fall back to level par.

At the next, the par-three 16th, the Irishman was bunkered off the tee and then produced an excellent rescue shot with his sand wedge only to miss his par putt from five feet.

Again at the eighth, he caught a bad break when his approach shot caught the wrong side of a ridge and rolled off the green into a collection area but onece more produced an excellent comeback, lofting his chip back to six feet under the hole.

And yet again he missed the putt, this time a birdie eluding the world number one.

It was a frustrating day for his compatriot Graeme McDowell also who slumped to four-over-par 74 having doubled bogeyed the 10th, also his first hole, the start of a long and frustrating round for the former US Open champion from Portrush.

Nothing could have been further from the experience Dustin Johnson was enjoying at the other end of the leaderboard, despite a disappointing end to his opening round with his first bogey of the day at the par-three ninth, which was being played with the USGA using its lower teeing ground rather than the more dramatic upper one which involves a 100-foot drop down to the undulating green.

Johnson found waste ground short of the green with his uphill tee shot and would be denied his first bogey-free round at a US Open.

“I’m very pleased with my round today,” the American said.

“I thought I played really solid all day. Obviously the bogey at nine, I hit a poor tee shot there. And hit a really good chip to even have a 15-footer for par and hit a good putt, just came up a little bit short. All in all I thought I had a great day.

“I thought the set-up was great. I thought they had some really tough flags and they had some pins that you could get close to. I thought they did a good job with the set-up today for sure.”

The big-hitting Johnson’s opening-day form confirmed the belief that Chambers Bay was a bomber’s paradise but only with a certain proviso.

“If I’m driving it straight, yeah,” he said. “And I drove it pretty straight today, so that was nice. I think I only missed three fairways.

“The first time I played I thought it was great. I still like it. It’s definitely an interesting golf course. But I thought it was a lot of fun to play. And I really enjoyed it today, too.

“I like using my imagination on shots. It’s always fun to play courses that are different than what you play every day. I just enjoy playing here. I enjoy playing over at the British. It’s golf that I really like to play.

“You’ve just got to be smart with your club selection.

“You really need to pick out a spot where you’re trying to land your golf ball. I thought I did a really good job with that today.”

Sweden’s Stenson, the world number six, was equally enthused with his opening day’s work, joining Johnson in the clubhouse on 65 soon after the American had completed his round.

“I’m very pleased with the day’s work. I guess I can maybe pinpoint it down to three things.

“Mentally I was in a good place. I kept very level headed and focused and good patience out there, which were a few of the things I set out before the week to try and keep.

“It’s going to remain the same for the remainder of the week. That’s going to be one of the hardest things to keep going even if things aren’t going your way.

“Today obviously it did for most of the day, so that makes it a bit easier. That’s really one of the things I need to try and keep in mind for the rest of the week.

“This is one day out of four and we’ve got to keep at it if we want to be there on Sunday afternoon. Ball striking wise, I hit some real quality shots out there. I set up a lot of birdie chances. I was inside five feet for the first three holes and started off with two birdies and missed the shortest one.

“All in all, I played solid. Gave myself some nice birdie chances coming in and just rolled a couple of beauties in from 14 and onwards. Pleased with the striking and putting the way I played.”