LOWRY BEST OF THE IRISH AS MCILROY STRUGGLES
Ireland’s Shane Lowry lines up a putt on the ninth green during The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale. (Photo: Stuart Franklin/R&A/ Getty)
Rory McIlroy will need to produce a battling Open Championship fightback after a difficult day on the baked Royal Birkdale links that left The Masters champion on two-over and seven strokes adrift of overnight leader Jackson Suber from the United States.
The Holywood star signed for a two-over 72 after struggling with his putting and pace of the greens where too many short putts rolled past the holes. Suber’s superb five-under 65 left him two ahead of Sungjae Im and England's Dan Brown on four-under, with a chasing pack on three-under, including Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
McIlroy's card told the story of a frustrating afternoon. Despite moments of brilliance, particularly with his long game, costly mistakes on the greens and bogeys at both back-nine par fives prevented him from building momentum. A closing birdie ensured the damage was limited, but the six-time major champion knows he has ground to make up if he is to lift a second Claret Jug.
"It was a bit of a scrappy day," McIlroy admitted afterwards. "I drove the ball really well, but I made too many stupid mistakes, especially with a couple of short putts early on. Hopefully I can take advantage of the more benign conditions in the morning and shoot under par and get back in it.
He had an unusual and frustrating day on the greens. “Yeah, I feel like I missed a couple early on that looked like they were going to break one way and they actually went another way, and then when you get the next one, you're over it and it's just very hard to trust that the ball is going to do what you think it's going to do. Then you maybe don't make quite as committed of a stroke.”
While McIlroy endured a roller-coaster afternoon, compatriot Shane Lowry demonstrated his love of Links golf as the 2019 Open champion signed for a one-under 69 to be the leading Irishman after day one.
Lowry negotiated the increasingly tricky afternoon conditions superbly, producing a composed display that featured several crucial par saves before birdieing the 17th to move into red figures.
“I'm pretty happy with that,” said Lowry. “I think the - you know, the wind switch in the afternoon made the course play a little more difficult. So, it was important I didn't get caught leaderboard watching and see what the leader guys were doing.
“I feel like hopefully we're going to get that nice easterly wind that they had tomorrow morning. Yeah, I felt like it was tricky. I felt like I was very in control of my game myself. 69 is a pretty decent start.”
World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler is also well-placed after his two-under 68. Local favourite Tommy Fleetwood was not happy with his game but managed to negotiate a one-under 69 around the Lancashire links that he is so familiar with.
Elsewhere, it was a mixed opening day for the Irish contingent. Tom McKibbin is very much in touch after his one-under 71, while former champion Darren Clarke defied the years with his two-over 72, the same mark as McIlroy.
Fota Island amateur David Howard opened with a four-over 74, two better than Amateur champion Stuart Grehan, who struggled to an opening six-over 76. Pádraig Harrington had a miserable day after signing for a 10-over 80.