Slow play was the story of the opening day at the Irish Open, and Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin all weighed in on the issue at Donald Trump’s Doonbeg resort
Rory McIlroy bemoaned a ‘stop-start’ day at the Irish Open(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry called it “mad.” Rory McIlroy said it was probably the longest round of his life. Slow play was the story of the opening round at the Irish Open.
Many groups took more than six hours to complete their first loop of Donald Trump’s Doonbeg resort in Co. Clare on Thursday, and brutal weather compounded the excruciating experience. Howling winds from the Atlantic ramped up the difficulty, and Brooks Koepka and Sergio Garcia were among the players to have miserable days.
Lowry and McIlroy are in much better shape. The former is two shots off the lead of Joaquin Niemann after opening with a three-under-par 67. McIlroy is two shots further back, and he had his patience tested to the limit. The weather forecast is better for Friday, which should speed things up, but President Trump’s anticipated visit on Saturday could see the tournament grind to a halt again.
The national open ought to be a joyful experience for the Irish players involved, but they were mentally and physically drained after finally reaching the clubhouse.
“I can’t recall a round of golf that’s taken that long before,” McIlroy said said. “Over six hours might be a first for me. Yeah, that was tough. It was very windy.
“It was hard to get into any sort of rhythm out there. It was a lot of stop-start. I felt like shooting under par wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but at the end of the day, I’m only four shots behind and not in a bad spot.”
Lowry added: “I think we stood on the eighth and we’ve been out there three hours, which is mad when you think about it.
Tom McKibbin battled to shoot a two-under-par 68(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
“We hit two full shots in an hour out there, the drive on six and the tee shot on seven in a full hour. That’s hard to do, especially when you’re nearly 40, but you just have to keep going. It’s the same for everyone; there’s no point whining about it if you just have to get on with it.”
Padraig Harrington, who has seen plenty over his 31 Irish Open appearances, mustered a fitting analogy for the sluggish pace of play.
He told reporters: “The first couple of holes were great and then we backed up on the par-five. When it is backed up in front of you, everybody then subconsciously wants to slow down even more, because there is nowhere to go. That is the nature of golf.
“As slow as the round was today, it is a bit like rush hour traffic in bad driving conditions. Everything slows down. It really is a traffic jam. Players see that they are going nowhere in front of them.”
Northern Irish talent Tom McKibbin said the weather and long waits made for a “very challenging” day, and he gave his theories on the cause.
“[The fourth is a] downwind par-5, then a very hard into-the-wind hole [at the sixth], which probably isn’t designed for a driver and a long iron. And then the next hole’s drivable, and you’ve got a par-3, and then you’ve got a par-5.
I”n a different wind direction, it probably wouldn’t take that long. But yeah, obviously, a lot of going for greens, going for par-5s and stuff like that.”