80 just agony for McIlroy as superstars suffer at Shinnecock Hills
Mickelson, Spieth and McIlroy all fail to fire
It was Rory McIlroy’s 135th round in a major championship and it truly plumbed the depths. All his hopes and desires to bounce back forcefully following his final-round collapse at the Masters ended up in the ferocious fescue rough after an agonising first-round 80 in the 118th US Open.
this was the third such score he has carded in the majors — the others came at St Andrews in 2010 and Augusta in 2011 — but the worst by two full strokes in relation to par — ten over — and all those who tried to sugar-coat what happened in April will surely have to think again.
If there is a golfer’s equivalent of writer’s block, then poor McIlroy is surely suffering from it, and it is both sad to see and hard to watch.
At the other end of the emotional scale on a tempestuous first day was Ian Poulter, one of only two men in the morning wave to shoot under par, as he matched the score of 69 mustered by American Scott Piercy.
Poulter made his US Open debut here at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, and, frustrated beyond measure at the end of a torturous 36 holes, he vowed never to play in another.
At 42, and enjoying a stunning revival this year, Poulter cut a rather more serene figure as he skilfully plotted his way round this resolute but fair set-up that is a world away from the tricked-up layout that gave him such fits last time.
‘I’ve not had a lot of fun at US Opens in general, never mind just in 2004,’ said Poulter, without a top ten in a dozen previous appearances.
‘It’s usually been like pulling teeth for me. But I was comfortable knowing the wind was going to blow and I’m very happy with my start. Now we’ve just got three more stressful rounds to play.’
Poulter did what you have to do at a US Open. He kept the big numbers away and the bogeys as well for the most part by calling on his wonderful short game. the pick of his three birdies came at the par-three 11th, where his seven-iron tee shot struck the flagstick flush, before finishing a matter of inches away.
the next best score in the morning wave came, predictably enough, from fellow Englishman Justin Rose, whose red-hot form continued as he hit 92 per cent of fairways on his way to a fine 71.
For virtually everyone else, the 18 holes proved a relentless grind and no more so than for the three players who stand one major away from completing the career Grand Slam — Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and McIlroy.
Believe it or not, they had the best of the conditions, as the wind picked up to make life even harder for those with afternoon tee times. Yet still they could find little joy, with the demon putter Spieth looking like a wizard who has lost his wand as he endured another miserable day on the greens in a 78.
the Open champion began
bogey, triple bogey and, like McIlroy, gives the classic impression of a man who is trying far too hard. as for Mickelson, who will be 48 tomorrow, he looked all his years as he handed in a 77.
McIlroy’s performance, though, was the most shocking. The fairways here could hardly be more generous yet the man who might be the best in the game from the tee hit just 50 per cent of them. To put that lamentable figure in perspective, Mickelson, who is hopeless in that department by comparison, hit 13 out of 14.
When McIlroy’s driving fails him to that extent, it is impossible for him to compete but there was not much solace to be found in the rest of his game, either.
Indeed, so bad was he for three hours that he actually stood on his 11th tee at ten over, before finally discovering a semblance of his real game. He will need plenty more of that today simply to avoid missing the cut in this event for a third straight year.
McIlroy has been on Long Island for ten days, playing what he described as ‘fun golf’ before these 18 holes that were truly the stuff of his worst nightmares.
Neither he nor Mickelson spoke afterwards and Spieth uttered a few words that might just have worked for the three of them. ‘It was blah,’ he said.
They were not alone in their suffering, of course. another highly-fancied name, Jason Day, shot 79, while you had to feel for the 2016 British amateur champion, Scott Gregory, who turned pro last year but could have been forgiven for wishing he had chosen another line of work. The 23-year-old from Portsmouth shot 92 — the first man to fail to break 90 in a US Open for 16 years.