RORY MCILROY WAS happy to shoot under par in the first round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills considering his last experience at the Long Island venue.
His 69 – which included a first eagle at the event in nine years – was 11 strokes better than his opening effort here in 2018. That 80 was the joint-worst of his major career and led to him missing the cut.
Despite a sloppy bogey-bogey finish to surrender the lead, the Masters champion sits only one shot back after a fog-delayed and windy first day.
“With the conditions today, anything under par or anything around even par is a good score,” said the world number two, who is seeking to win his first US Open title since making his major breakthrough in 2011.
“It was a day to really just keep yourself in the tournament and not shoot yourself out of it, which is exactly what I did eight years ago here.
“So I sort of went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good, and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there, that’s always a bonus.
“But really just minimising the mistakes. I did that for the most part today.
“I didn’t feel like I hit two bad iron shots on the last two holes (but) I put myself in pretty difficult spots and wasn’t able to get it up and down.”
The highlight of McIlroy’s round was the 396-yard drive and a pitching wedge to 11 feet which demolished the 597-yard fifth hole, playing downwind, for his first US Open eagle since Erin Hills in 2017.
“It was nice to hit wedge in there and then to pay it off with a putt and to make a three was a bonus,” McIlroy said. “My par-five play of recent hasn’t been the best, so it was nice to see that drop.”
That saw him become the first man to get to three under, although two missed greens at the end of his round saw him fall back to one behind little-known 29-year-old American Sam Stevens, yet to win on the PGA Tour in 115 events.
McIlroy was also pleased to see the US Golf Association slow the greens with brutal winds testing top golfers at Shinnecock.
After talk of losing the course in 2004 and 2018 when the US Open was played at Shinnecock with gusting winds and lightning-fast greens, the USGA slowed the speed of the putting surfaces from where they were earlier this week.
“Greens are pretty slow and quite receptive. I think they need to be at this point,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a challenging golf course already, and you put 30mph winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well.
“They were prudent with the course setup. You just want to get everyone around without too much issue. They’ve set the course up for that, at least today.”
McIlroy was more cautious and it helped, noting that when he was off target, “I missed it in pretty much all the right spots.”
McIlroy kept a wedge in his hands much of the day.
“Laying back in this championship is always the smart choice,” he said. “The penalty for the miss is so severe around these greens that if you can just leave yourself a wedge in your hand you’re never really going to make worse than a par, you hope, and that’s never a bad score in this tournament.”
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Rory McIlroy glad to ‘minimise mistakes’ after under-par first round at US Open
RORY MCILROY WAS happy to shoot under par in the first round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills considering his last experience at the Long Island venue.
His 69 – which included a first eagle at the event in nine years – was 11 strokes better than his opening effort here in 2018. That 80 was the joint-worst of his major career and led to him missing the cut.
Despite a sloppy bogey-bogey finish to surrender the lead, the Masters champion sits only one shot back after a fog-delayed and windy first day.
“With the conditions today, anything under par or anything around even par is a good score,” said the world number two, who is seeking to win his first US Open title since making his major breakthrough in 2011.
“So I sort of went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good, and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there, that’s always a bonus.
“But really just minimising the mistakes. I did that for the most part today.
“I didn’t feel like I hit two bad iron shots on the last two holes (but) I put myself in pretty difficult spots and wasn’t able to get it up and down.”
The highlight of McIlroy’s round was the 396-yard drive and a pitching wedge to 11 feet which demolished the 597-yard fifth hole, playing downwind, for his first US Open eagle since Erin Hills in 2017.
“It was nice to hit wedge in there and then to pay it off with a putt and to make a three was a bonus,” McIlroy said. “My par-five play of recent hasn’t been the best, so it was nice to see that drop.”
That saw him become the first man to get to three under, although two missed greens at the end of his round saw him fall back to one behind little-known 29-year-old American Sam Stevens, yet to win on the PGA Tour in 115 events.
McIlroy was also pleased to see the US Golf Association slow the greens with brutal winds testing top golfers at Shinnecock.
After talk of losing the course in 2004 and 2018 when the US Open was played at Shinnecock with gusting winds and lightning-fast greens, the USGA slowed the speed of the putting surfaces from where they were earlier this week.
“Greens are pretty slow and quite receptive. I think they need to be at this point,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a challenging golf course already, and you put 30mph winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well.
“They were prudent with the course setup. You just want to get everyone around without too much issue. They’ve set the course up for that, at least today.”
McIlroy was more cautious and it helped, noting that when he was off target, “I missed it in pretty much all the right spots.”
McIlroy kept a wedge in his hands much of the day.
“Laying back in this championship is always the smart choice,” he said. “The penalty for the miss is so severe around these greens that if you can just leave yourself a wedge in your hand you’re never really going to make worse than a par, you hope, and that’s never a bad score in this tournament.”
- Additional reporting by AFP.
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Golf Shinnecock Hills US Open