'Rushed' Rory McIlroy unhappy at being put on the clock at Irish Open
SLOW AND STEADY: Rory McIlroy on the ninth at the K Club on Thursday. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane
Rory McIlroy hit out at DP World Tour rules officials after being put on the clock for slow play during an otherwise encouraging opening round for the Masters champion at the Amgen Irish Open on Thursday.
The World number two bogeyed his 16th and 17th holes of the day at The K Club to card a first-round, one-under-par 71 in dry and mild conditions and said he felt rushed during a chunk of his opening 18 holes having started his day in front of big galleries at the 10th hole.
That left the five-time major champion and career grand slam winner five shots off the early clubhouse lead held by Spain’s Nacho Elvira at six under par while fellow Irishman Shane Lowry enjoyed a strong finish to his round on Thursday morning with three birdies across his final six holes to card a three-under 69.
McIlroy, playing alongside South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and Kristoffer Reitan of Norway, had made the turn in three under with four birdies and a single bogey but accused rules officials of lacking common sense in their treatment of a marquee group as he recorded three bogeys and a single birdie on his back nine.
“In all honesty, I felt a little rushed out there for the last 12 holes,” McIlroy said. “We got put on the clock pretty early. And then the first official went away and then we were put on the clock for the last three holes to try to make time up.
"And it's hard because you feel a bit rushed, you're playing some tough holes and we obviously, our group, has to deal with a lot more than any other group on the course.
"So it's understandable that we lose time and I feel like any time I either come back to Europe or I play in some of these like one, two, three in the world type groups, we're always put on the clock for that reason.
"So I got a little frustrated the last few holes because I feel like it always happens and I don't think they use sort of common sense in terms of, well, of course we're going to lose ground because we're going to have to wait on crowds and wait on the two camera crews that are out there.
"And, you know, there's just a lot more going on with our group than any of the other groups on the course, and sometimes I feel like they have to give us a little bit of leeway and use a bit of common sense.”
McIlroy accepted there had been delays with his playing partners also finding water but added: “I guess it was more I just felt because it's happened to me quite a lot before in these sorts of big groups who want to come back to Europe and play, I felt like I just let it agitate me a little bit.”
Of his opening round overall, McIlroy said: “It was pretty good. For the most part, I hit it well off the tee.
"I had that drive on 15 that went in the water and made a bogey there, but apart from that, I felt like off the tee was pretty good, iron play was pretty solid.
"Yeah, everything was quite good. I think if I had a par the last three holes, I would have felt pretty good about the round, but letting two shots go there in the last three holes. But certainly encouraged by how I played and some of the shots that I saw out there.”
Lowry had a lot more to be satisfied with from his opening 69. Like McIlroy and fellow Irishmen Padraig Harrington (+2) and Robert Moran (Level), the 2019 Open champion and world number 23 enjoyed the best of the day’s conditions on Thursday morning before the showers returned to The K Club and play was briefly suspended due to the threat of lightning.
Playing with a new driver in his bag, Lowry got off to a steady start from the 10th tee before a bogey at the par-four 15th, his sixth hole of the day. Then came the strong finish, with birdies at the par-five fourth, number 13 on his card, which came courtesy of an excellent greenside bunker shot to one foot, and the par-four sixth and ninth.
“It's very important to get off to a good start in tournaments,” Lowry said. “You could see early on, I was one over and there were guys going out four or five under after nine holes.
“I'm happy how I handled that. Handled not putting too much pressure on myself to get a score back. I feel like I just went about my business and put a really nice round together.”
