An air swing one day, dealing with a banana peel the next. Welcome to the crazy Rory McIlroy Australian Open experience.
Throw in numerous puts scraping the edge of holes and it’s no wonder the Masters champion was again left shaking his head after the end of a patchy third round which finished better than it started to leave a faint heartbeat about a miracle victory.
McIlroy had four birdies in his final seven holes for a 68 to be at five-under for the tournament, nine shots back from leader Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
After an air swing in the bushes on the 14th on Friday, McIlroy found himself facing another bizarre scenario on the second hole on Saturday when his drive went wayward and somehow found itself underneath a banana peel.
Not even the five-time major champion could find his way out of that one with a double-bogey setting him back on his heels early.
“I feel like this week’s a week of firsts in a lot of ways,” McIlroy said. “I mean, I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but yeah, it wasn’t the best way to start.”
He said he didn’t even bother to ask for an official ruling on the unfortunate turn of events with the elusive banana peel.
“No, because I assumed I wouldn’t (get relief),” McIlroy said. “The banana, it’s a loose impediment and it was rested on the ball. So if I moved the banana peel the ball would’ve moved. So I just didn’t even try.”
Cold starts have been a pattern for the Northern Irishman and he admitted having so many puts sit on the lip meant he never really got a chance to make a run.
“I just needed something to go in,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I haven’t really got a lot of momentum at all over the past three days.
“I guess when the putts hang on the lip like that, it just feels a bit like the story of the week in a way. But maybe it turned it around with the last few holes there coming in. All you need is that little bit of momentum to go your way then you’re off and running.
“I feel like I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. So yeah, I feel like I gave myself plenty of chances out there. And if I think back over the last three days, just like anyone else in this tournament, they’ll tell you that they should be a lot better or a lot lower than they are.
“But I’ll go out there and try my best tomorrow and try to shoot a low one and see where it leaves me.”
Once again, McIlroy was followed by thousands of fans and they erupted on the 13th tee when one of the biggest hitters in the game pulled out his driver.
It had been the turning point 24 hours earlier in his round but the five-time major champion said it didn’t mean he would be pulling out the driver more on Sunday as he attempted to chase the rest of the field down.
“It’s hard on this course because taking it on means you could shoot 62 but it also means you could shoot 75 and I certainly don’t want to do that,” McIlroy said.
“You’ve got to pick and choose your moments. Every time you get on the tee box you have to look at where the pin is on the green to see what side of the fairway you have to leave yourself.
“If you need to leave yourself an angle or if you can be a little bit more aggressive, especially with how firm the greens are getting. So again, it’s like you can be aggressive, but you just have to pick and choose your spots.”
When McIlroy finished his round a couple of hours before the leading contenders, he was hoping to be within six or seven shots which he figured gave him a chance to win.
“It depends what the guys get to,” he said. “If any of the guys get to sort of 13 or 14 under, then I think I’ll be a bit too far back.
“But if they stay where they are at the minute, sort of around that 10, 11 mark, then yeah, I feel like I would have a chance from there.
“I think if everything comes together for me I can shoot a pretty low one out there. But whether that’s good enough or not, I’m not sure.”
Smith determined to end on a high
Cameron Smith has warned his motivation levels are a “25 out of 10” to win a first Australian Open as homegrown stars pleaded for Royal Melbourne’s greens to be sped up before the final round.
The former world No.2, who has endured a hellish year on the course missing the cut in all seven world rankings events he’s played, including the four majors, looms as Australia’s best chance, just two shots shy of the lead at Royal Melbourne.
Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (-14) will start the last round ahead of a trio of players, including Smith (-12), on a cosmopolitan with eight different countries represented in the top-10.
But no player will have as much support as Smith, whose creative instincts have thrived on the Melbourne sandbelt as he chases one of the last remaining bucket list items in his career.
An Australian hasn’t won the men’s national championship since Matt Jones in 2019 (the event was cancelled twice during the COVID years), and few thought Smith was capable of reversing the trend after he missed the cut at last week’s Australian PGA Championship.
But he has emerged as the country’s big hope with a composed five-under 66 in his third round on Saturday, joining Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz (66) and Korea’s Si Woo Kim (65) at 12-under for the tournament.
Asked about his motivation levels for a maiden Stonehaven Cup, Smith said: “Twenty-five out of 10. I just feel like it’s been a bit of a crappy year.
“It’s just nice to be in contention. It’s been a while since I’ve had this feeling so I’m looking forward to (Sunday). I love that it’s here. I love that it’s at Royal Melbourne for the Australian Open. I couldn’t think of a better place to be back in form.”
Further probed on whether a win would silence his critics, he added: “It would shut a few people up, not that that’s really the goal. The goal is to go out there and play well. The motivation for myself is to play well under these conditions.”
Smith’s third round highlight was when he sunk a bomb from on the fringe for eagle on the par-five 14th, his round only slightly tainted with a bogey on the last as Neergaard-Petersen, playing in the group behind, padded his lead with a closing birdie.
World No.82 Neergaard-Petersen flew to Melbourne early to prepare for the Australian Open after not making the weekend in Brisbane, and looms as the biggest obstacle for the local contingent, including Adam Scott (-10) and Min Woo Lee (-10).
Rory McIlroy’s wild week continued as he found his ball stuck behind a banana peel at one stage during his three-under 68. He’s at five-under for the tournament and nine shots from the lead.
Royal Melbourne’s greens have been slower than most players anticipated with the cooler conditions prevailing on Saturday, and Scott said “for sure” when asked if he wanted them to be spicier for championship day.
“I’ve seen someone shoot six under every front nine so far this week,” Scott said. “So, if someone up there does that (on Sunday), it’s on. And it’d be great to see (the greens) double cut and rolled and the sun out shining.”
Lucas Herbert agreed with Scott’s assessment after he posted a brilliant 65 to give himself an outside chance of running down the leaders.
“If (tournament director) Trevor Herden is sitting in there doing the set-up, and if any fibre of his being wants an Aussie to win, I think he’ll make it as hard as he can,” Herbert said.
“All of us care too much that we keep letting these guys come in who are internationals who didn’t grow up wanting to win the Aussie Open. Playing in the last group last year with Ryggs (Johnston), I wouldn’t have said it was easy for him, but it looked like it was easier for him than it was for me.
“So, especially growing up around these areas, you can feel like the weight of the world’s on your shoulders a little bit.”
Chalmers’ cheeky response to curious young fans
— Adam Pengilly
Our favourite performance so far this week has come from 52 years young Greg Chalmers, unbelievably playing an Australian Open at Royal Melbourne for the first time.
And “Snake” is playing well, too, posting a tidy three-under 68 on Saturday to be inside the top 20 at six-under for the tournament.
As he signed autographs for kids after his round, one asked: “Who are you?”
“Rory McIlroy,” Chalmers fired back.
On the more serious issue of reviving the Australian Open and getting more Americans to Australia, Chalmers said: “What (Rory) has been doing is brilliant, hats off to him. The biggest selling point, and this week is a great example, is our golf courses. You’ve got to pick great venues.
“Personally, I had half a dozen people ask me, ‘how do I get into this field?’ If we’re not playing at courses of this calibre, nobody asks.
“People will be watching this back in the States, and there will be some big players, and they will be curious. Kingston Heath next year is also an incredible golf course.”
SMITH AIMS HIGH WITH HOST OF AUSSIES IN AUS OPEN HUNT
— Scott Gullan
Holing out for eagle from the fairway on the 10th hole was the catalyst for a Min Woo Lee charge which has resurrected the local assault on the Australian Open.
For most of the second day the top half of the leaderboard was clogged with internationals although that didn’t include the one who’d everyone expected to be there with drawcard Rory McIlroy spending most of the afternoon struggling to keep above the cut line.
Lee was playing alongside the Masters champion and rose to the occasion, firing a spectacular 65 to be second at eight-under, one shot back, going into the weekend.
In his slipstream was former champion Adam Scott who shot a classy 66 to be equal-third alongside an inspired Cameron Smith and Mexico’s Carlos Oritz.
The second round lead is shared by Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Portugal’s Daniel Rodrigues at nine-under.
After the opening round Scott remarked Lee was the one who hit it better than himself and McIlroy, and the 27-year-old kept it rolling on Friday with four birdies and that extraordinary eagle.
The nine-iron shot from around 176m on the par four 10th rolled perfectly up the green and into the hole with Lee raising his hands in triumph and pulling out a brief airline celebration and jig with arms out.
“Funny story, it was a weird one,” Lee said.
“So I got my two pieces of sushi and then I made a two on that hole. There could be a story about that.
“And then there’s another story that I went to the bathroom and Scotty hit first, which is a little random and then I holed it right on top of him. So it was a good number.
“I haven’t hit many three-quarter shots and it was a three-quarter nine-iron and obviously firm greens, you don’t want to hit it too low. So that was an opportunity for a back pin and came off perfect.
“(The celebration) was just random and yeah, it just felt good. It was a big crowd, so I was just doing random stuff.”
He then rode some good luck on the 18th hole with his drive slicing into a corporate marquee but then bouncing back perfectly into the middle of the fairway.
Scott, 45, had an interesting start to his round with two birdies and a bogey inside the first three holes before a string of nine pars.
He then clicked up a gear with a birdie on the 13th followed by a brilliant eagle at the 14th to rocket him back up the leaderboard.
“It was a great back nine for me today,” Scott said.
“I think I was pretty patient all day and then a couple good things happened, so I put myself in the mix with a couple to go, which feels really good.
“It was like one of the great days of Australian golf, on that first tee the crowd was incredible.”
The sight of Smith enjoying himself was welcomed by everyone given he has struggled to make a cut all year. He was flawless all afternoon, shooting an incredible 65 which included six birdies and no blemishes.
“It’s definitely a relief but I’m not here to make the cut,” Smith said.
“I’m here to win the Stonehaven Cup and I’ve put myself in a good spot to do that, so really happy with that.”
Earlier Neergaard-Petersen had capitalised on the knowledge learnt from a recent sneak peek of Melbourne’s Sandbelt to shoot a stunning 66.
The 26-year-old spent time in Melbourne last month and played a couple of rounds at Peninsula Kingswood with local pro, and fellow DP World Tour star, David Micheluzzi.
“It makes a difference,” he said. “Certainly kind of knowing what to expect. The eagle I made today (14th) it’s one of those shots you’re never usually or normally thinking about landing a middle iron, I had a six-iron and landed it five steps short of the green.
“But that’s some of the shots you got to hit out here. So just kind of getting in that Sandbelt mindset I think definitely helped.”
Neegard-Petersen has enjoyed a whirlwind 12 months which saw him claim eight DP World Tour top tens, including a runner-up finish in Qatar and a tie for third at the season finale after playing in the final group on Sunday alongside Rory McIlroy.
Rodrigues was the hot player of the morning session, rattling off eight birdies through his final 12 holes to get a share of the lead.
Overnight leader Elvis Smylie had his struggles, slipping down the leaderboard before having his first birdie of the day at the par-five 17th to finish at five-under.
