Mcilroy fires back at Harmon over putting criticisms
Rory Mcilroy was not to be cowed yesterday, by the course or by his critics. The word “nasty” was emblazoned across the sole of his shoe, and he then followed up his round of 69 by curtly dismissing the criticism of Butch Harmon, the renowned coach who had accused him of being “robotic” in his putting.
“I would say I am on the opposite end of the spectrum than someone who is mechanical,” Mcilroy bristled. “It is easy to make comments when you don’t know what is happening. I have not spoken to Butch in a long time.
“He does not know what I am working on in my swing, he does not know what it is in my head. It is easy to make comments and easy to speculate, but unless you actually know what is happening, I just really do not take any notice of it.”
The spikiness should not detract
from Mcilroy’s performance, which left him two shots under par after the first day.
It was not without flaws, but it was certainly enough to suggest that he can pose a genuine challenge this weekend.
In fact, this was only the seventh time Mcilroy has shot an opening round in the 60s at a major. On three of the previous six occasions, he won the tournament.
If Mcilroy, whose logo on his shoe referred to the course’s “Carnasty” nickname, had any lingering doubts over the freewheeling, allor-nothing golf he had vowed to detonate on Carnoustie’s tees, they were all but erased on the third of his holes.
Standing 350 yards from the green, Mcilroy dipped into his bag and, to the sound of cheers, withdrew his driver as if he was unsheathing a sword of war. His playing partners, Marc Leishman and Thorbjorn Olesen, had both opted for a more measured approach by playing irons off the tee, but Mcilroy was in a notably destructive mood.
Three shots later, he had made his first birdie of the week. “It was validation,” he said. “Like, yes, this is the right way to do it. It was a nice little moment, almost a little personal victory.”
To end his four-year major drought here, though, Mcilroy will need to find the consistency to match the bravery off the tee. He hit only four of 15 fairways here, and afterwards accepted it was a long way from being among the most aesthetically pleasing of showings.
“It was not pretty off the tee,” Mcilroy said. “But I got it done. I would have taken 69 to start the day. Even if you play aggressive around here, you might make more bogeys than playing it safe, but you are going to make more birdies as well.
“Obviously I got away with some tee shots but, at the same time, I think that is what I have to do. That is my game plan this week.
“I am convinced that is the way I should play it. It is not going to be for everyone, but it worked out pretty well today.”
If anything, Mcilroy said, he could have been even more gungho. There was an acceptance on the back nine that he may need to rein it in a little after his erratic start, but still he had the gumption to land birdies at 12, 14 and a crucial putt for par on the troublesome 16th.
“There are still times when you have to be cautious out there and not take as much risk, but at the same time whenever a hole presents itself to you, when you can take advantage of it and be aggressive, I think you have to,” he said.
“Even when I was missing fairways, I was able to get it on the greens and I did not really look like making a bogey on the back nine, apart from 16.
“I definitely thought that it was going to be beneficial to be as aggressive as I possibly could be.
“The guys that can carry their drivers over 300 can take all the fairway bunkers out of play, and they should have an advantage.”
As he waited to tee off on the 18th, Mcilroy turned and squinted towards the leaderboard to see that he was just three shots off the leader, Kevin Kisner.
Suddenly that reaching stride had a little more purpose and those shoulders were pushed a little further back. After sinking his final shot of the day, Mcilroy ignored the desperate pleas for an autograph from the waiting crowd, puffed his chest and marched away from a job well done.
‘Whenever a hole presents itself to you and you can be aggressive, I think you have to’