Rory even after avoiding rule violation
It looked like Rory McIlroy might be the latest victim of “the ball-moving-at-address” rule that has haunted the PGA Tour this year. McIlroy was playing the par-5 fourth hole, his 13th of Thursday’s opening round of the Barclays at Bethpage Black, when he set up to convert a short putt for birdie.
With wind gusts up to 25 mph hour, it wasn’t surprising when McIlroy backed off the ball just as he was about to putt and called for a rules official. It immediately conjured memories of what happened to Dustin Johnson at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where the eventual champion played his final round under the uncertainty of whether he would be assessed a penalty stroke for a similar occurrence, which he was.
After a brief discussion with the rules official, McIlroy wasn’t assessed a penalty stroke and then made the short birdie that improved his score to even par on his round. There were no dark clouds hanging over him as he finished with a birdie and bogey over the next five holes to stand even after his opening round.
“I addressed my ball, so I put my putter behind it,” McIlroy said. “But with the wind, that’s a very exposed green. With these poa [annua] greens, as well, [there can be] a tiny bit of movement whether it’s wind or even pressure from your feet.
“I told the ref what happened and he said with the wind and everything, I don’t think you caused the ball to move. I just played it from where it was.”
Jason Day had never been to Bethpage Black before he arrived for the Barclays this week.
By the time he completed his 3-under 68 to stand two shots out of the first-round lead Thursday, the No. 1-ranked player in the world realized what the thousands of hackers who play the Black Course on a regular basis already knew: The place is tough.
“To be honest, I think I’m a lot more tired than I expected,’’ Day said.
Phil Mickelson, who finished runner-up in both the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens played at Bethpage, shot a 1-under 70.
Henrik Stenson, fresh off his British Open victory last month and winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games, withdrew from the tournament Thursday after shooting an opening-round 74.
Stenson said his right knee, on which he had surgery in December, was bothering him and he was going to ud-ergo an MRI exam. Stenson also withdrew from the U.S. Open in June citing his right knee injury. The following week, he won the BMW International Open and captured the Claret Jug a few weeks after that.