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In his first ever visit to TPC Scottsdale for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Rory McIlroy might have wished he had never set foot in the place after a disastrous double-bogey, bogey start to his first round put him on the back foot from the get-go.
Yet in demonstrating his fortitude McIlroy put that disastrous start behind him as he recovered to shoot an opening one-under-par 70 that at least put him on the right side of par.
American Matthew NeSmith – seeking a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour – took advantage of near-perfect conditions in Arizona to claim the clubhouse lead with a flawless eight-under-par 63, featuring an eagle and six birdies.
For McIlroy, playing alongside Xander Schauffele and Daniel Berger, the opening couple of holes proved to be nightmarish: on the 10th, his first, the 31-year-old Northern Irishman hit his approach into a greenside bunker and, although his ball was just inches from Schauffele’s in the sand trap, McIlroy opted not to get his playing partner to mark his ball and paid the price as his attempted recovery shot across the putting surface and into another bunker. McIlroy ran up an opening double-bogey six.
Then, on the 11th, his second, McIlroy’s drive finished behind a tree and he could only advance it back towards the fairway. Ultimately he had a five-footer to save par, but missed and found himself three-over through just two holes.
To his credit McIlroy responded by birdieing each of the two Par 5s – the 13th and the 15th – and then got back on level terms with a chip-in birdie two on the 16th to go on to turn in 36.
On his homeward run McIlroy then claimed birdies on the second, where he rolled in a 25-footer, and the Par 5 third, before suffering his only bogey of the run-in on the eighth where he found a deep fairway bunker off the tee.
“It was a good battle-back,” said McIlroy. “Being three-over through two isn’t ideal, especially on this golf course where you sort of need to make birdies. But I fought back well. I wish I didn’t drop that shot coming in on the eighth hole, but shooting under par after that start wasn’t too bad.”
With a limited number of spectators of 5,000 a day at the course, McIlroy appreciated having some crowd interaction. “Just to get clapped for some good shots and good putts and get encouragement from green to tees, it was really nice to see people out here.”
NeSmith tried to take his low round in his stride. “I drove it good. I hit my irons well. I putted good. I just kind of did everything that you’re supposed to do, everything kind of was pretty simple. Drive it on the fairways, hit the greens, try and make as many putts as possible.”
European Tour
On the European Tour, England’s David Horsey flirted with a possible sub-60 opening round in the Saudi International tournament at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, but could only manage a par on the closing Par 5 and had to settle for a career-best nine-under-par 61 to claim a one stroke lead over Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.
It proved to be a tough day for scoring for the quartet of Irish players in the field, with Shane Lowry, defending champion Graeme McDowell and Cormac Sharvin all recording level par 70s, while Paul Dunne, playing on a sponsor’s invitation, was cruising along nicely until he reached the Par 4 13th where he ran up quadruple bogey eight in eventually signing for a 73.
Horsey, a four-time winner on the European Tour, but without a win since the 2015 Made in Denmark, had missed both cuts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on the Middle East Swing, and attributed his turnaround in form to a pre-tournament phone call to a friend at home who made a technical suggestion about his body movement on the swing. “It’s a shock, I’ve been actually playing rubbish the last couple of weeks... [after the call] I thought, I can’t get any worse, so I may as well try it,” said Horsey.