More Rory McIlroy drama in Georgia. Events at the final hole of the opening round of the Tour Championship barely compared with what played out at Augusta National in April but these were still moments of McIlroy box office. No wonder he stood laughing with arm aloft.
McIlroy found himself in a greenside bunker in two at the par-five 18th. He caught his attempt from the sand trap far too cleanly, the ball flying over the flag and rebounding from a grandstand. The bounce was favourable; McIlroy had 17ft left for a birdie. The putt found the bottom of the cup, much to the amusement of McIlroy and his playing partner Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy’s 66 at East Lake leaves him five shy of the first-round lead after Russell Henley’s stunning 61.
This was a fine day for Keegan Bradley, were he not in the midst of the toughest choice of his professional career. Henley will play under Bradley for the United States in the Ryder Cup next month. Scheffler continued his excellent form with a 63, including a back half of just 31. The 64s of Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas were notable with that trio likely to receive captain’s picks from Bradley. The key dilemma surrounds whether Bradley is also going to select himself, thereby becoming the first playing captain in a Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
Bradley’s 70 here hardly added to the conversation. The 39-year-old did not hang around for media duties. Significant in this debate is what Bradley’s peers will tell him to do. The mood music suggests they want Bradley on this team. “Yeah, I would,” said Thomas when asked whether he would pick Bradley. “It is a lot [to handle both jobs]. I think Keegan would say the same. I don’t think he would say it’s easy by any means. But myself, whatever other [vice-]captains, automatic qualifiers have all the faith in the world that whatever he decides to do is going to be in the best interest of the team.”
Morikawa outlined the trickiness of the scenario: “I think he’s got one of the most difficult decisions anyone has ever had to make. He has put more hours than we could even ask and know about into this Ryder Cup and he still has played great golf. He is one of the best Americans as of right now. But I truly do not know where his head sits and I don’t want to be in that position.
“If you lose, every reason is going to come up. At the end of the day, we lost in Rome because we played bad golf and they played great golf. That’s what it comes down to.”
There are European colours on the leaderboard. On what was a benign Atlanta day, with preferred lies allowed, Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre joined the 64 club. Ludvig Åberg signed for a 66.
“I think the course was as forgiving as we’re going to get it,” Fleetwood said. “But actually probably the biggest takeaway is how good everyone is at golf that’s here. I think the scoring is unbelievable. I’m sure we could talk about the fact that we had soft conditions and they were receptive but you’ve still got to play and you’ve still got to hit the shots.”
It was announced on the eve of this tournament that Cantlay would be among players on a new committee aimed at reshaping the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods will chair the group. “Tiger asked me to be on the committee, so I said yes,” said Cantlay when asked his reasoning for being involved. With insight like this, what could go wrong.
The Guardian
