LAST UPDATE | 10 Feb 2023
RORY MCILROY AND Shane Lowry endured disappointing opening rounds at the PGA Tour Phoenix Open on Thursday, while Seamus Power was on even-par when darkness halted play.
The Waterford native made it to the 10th before weather disrupted matters, with a bogey on the par-four ninth wiping out a birdie four on the fifth.
Play had been delayed for two hours due to frost, and McIlroy and Lowry both made extremely slow starts.
Current world number one McIlroy shot a two-over 73 as Offaly man Lowry trails further down the leaderboard after his 75.
“When you’ve got that 90-degree wind the whole time, if it changes just slightly one way or another, it’s a completely different shot, completely different club, and I got caught out by that a couple of times coming in, which wasn’t ideal,” McIlroy said.
“I actually felt the best swing I made of the day was the par-3, 7th,” he continued. “And hit it 20 yards over the green. Tricky day. Hopefully the wind keeps up this afternoon for the guys out there, and we’ll get back at it.
“Yeah, look, I wouldn’t say that this is a golf course that sets up terribly well for me,” McIlroy continued. “I struggle off the tee here. I feel like all the fairway bunkers are right in my landing zones. But it’s a challenge, and again, like I’m trying to embrace that challenge.
“Yeah, look, not an event I historically play,” he added. “But I feel like I’m a good enough player to figure it out and contend and win on any golf course.”
McIlroy and Lowry did manage to finish their day’s play, and they’re well behind joint leaders Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin.
The Canadian duo, who both live in Arizona, carded five-under par 66s and were warmly embraced by fans at the typically raucous event, with spectators in the stadium-style stands at the 16th serenading Hadwin with “O Canada.”
Neither was disturbed by the frost delay, or by the blustery winds that greeted golfers once they got underway.
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“I feel like a lot of guys that grew up in the cold, we get asked (if we’re used to these conditions) a lot,” Taylor said. “We did it a lot, but we probably prefer the heat now because we’ve moved south.
“I’ve played enough in it where I kind of know what to expect.”
World number six Xander Schauffele was in the clubhouse on four-under as he chases a first win at the tournament where he finished tied for second and tied for third the past two years.
Jim Herman and Australian Jason Day were both four-under on the course when darkness fell, Herman through 10 holes and Day through 13.
The Phoenix Open was made one of the PGA’s select tournaments with an elevated purse and commitments from most top players to appear, moves made to help keep players from bolting to the richer events of the Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf League.
The tournament shares the Phoenix stage with the NFL Super Bowl showdown between Kansas City and Philadelphia this weekend.
- Additional reporting from – © AFP 2023
