Golf superstar Rory McIlroy had an underwhelming first round at Royal Melbourne — the course he sensationally described this week as “probably not the best course” in the city — on day one of the Australian Open.
Playing in a bumper group featuring local heroes Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee on Thursday, Northern Ireland’s McIlroy shot a 1-over 72 to be tied for 66th as of 2pm.
Scott and Lee both carded a 2-under 69 on the first of four days of the PGA tournament.
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The current leader is Australian Elvis Smylie — son of tennis great Liz Smylie — who shot a 6-under 65.
Englishman Eddie Pepperell and Australian Corey Lamb both carded a 3-under 68 from their opening-round 18 holes to be tied for second, while Australia’s Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman both registered a 1-under 70 to be tied for 13th with a string of others.
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McIlroy began magnificently, holing a birdie putt on the par-4 10th after two sublime shots into the green.
But the reigning US Masters champion then recorded two consecutive bogeys and struggled to find his rhythm from that point on.
On a day made difficult by gusty winds, he finished the round with five birdies, seven pars and six bogeys.
“It was a rollercoaster day,” McIlroy admitted.
Rory McIlroy during round one. AP
“I felt like any time I made a birdie or two, I then made a bogey or two.
“It felt like one of those days; it was like, ‘OK, what side of par am I going to finish on? Is it going to be under or over?’ It ended up being over.
“But it wasn’t terrible.”
In an indication of the enormous anticipation McIlroy has brought to the Australian Open, some 2000 people were queuing up at the front gates of Royal Melbourne at 6am, more than an hour before the five-time major champion’s tee time.
Scott admitted the winds made the going tough and said he was pleased with his score considering the conditions.
“It was probably one of the most challenging days I’ve had at Royal Melbourne over the years,” Scott said.
“It was difficult. It’s one of those days where it’s really hard to get a rhythm going and very hard to be precise and get it close, especially on the cross winds, and it was really just blowing hard.
“So I’m pretty happy with that score, actually.”
