Holder Rory off to solid start
DEFENDING champion Rory McIlroy enjoyed an eventful start to his bid for a fourth victory in the Wells Fargo Championship.
Playing for the first time since finishing runner-up to Scottie Scheffler in the Masters, McIlroy birdied five of his first six holes and followed a double bogey on the fourth — his 13th hole of the day — with birdies on the fifth and sixth.
The resulting three-underpar 67 left McIlroy two shots off the early clubhouse lead shared by England’s Aaron Rai and the American pair of Matthew Wolff and Denny McCarthy.
‘I think first week back after three weeks off, there’s maybe going to be a couple of mistakes in there,’ McIlroy said. ‘The threeputt on 17 was an unforced error.
‘Eleven’s a tough hole, I got a bit of a flyer from the semi rough and made bogey, but you sort of accept that and deal with that. I probably left a couple out there but I’m still pretty happy with 67.
‘It could have been a 65 or a 64, but it’s still a good start. That was a nice bounce back (after the double bogey) to birdie both of those holes. I said to myself walking off the green, if I could just get back to three under by the end of the day after that, I would be pretty happy.’
With the tournament’s regular venue of Quail Hollow hosting the Presidents Cup later in 2022, this year’s event is taking place at TPC Potomac in Maryland, a move which would not appear to McIlroy’s advantage.
However, the course is just two miles from Congressional Country Club, where the 33-year-old McIlroy won the 2011 US Open by eight shots to claim his first major title.
‘I love this part of the world, I like the area,’ McIlroy said. ‘I went over to Congressional yesterday and that rekindled some nice memories. As I said, this style of golf just sort of suits me and I seem to play well around here.’
Seamus Power had one birdie and one bogey in a level par 70.
Rai carded five birdies in a bogey-free 65 as he seeks his first victory on the PGA Tour following two wins in Europe, the most recent coming after beating Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off at the 2020 Scottish Open.
Former Ryder Cup winner Thorbjorn Olesen hopes the best years of his career are still ahead of him as he claimed a share of the lead after day one of the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry.
Olesen carded six birdies and no bogeys in a superb 66 which was matched late in the day by New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who birdied his last three holes.
The pair enjoyed a one-shot lead over Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, Germany’s Hurly Long and China’s Ashun Wu, while defending champion Richard Bland carded a 73 on his 500th DP World Tour appearance.
Olesen, who beat three-time major winner Jordan Spieth in their singles match at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, is attempting to rebuild his career after he was cleared in December last year of sexually assaulting a woman on a British Airways flight in July 2019.
The 32-year-old claimed he turned into an ‘automaton’ and was not in control of his body after drinking and taking prescription-only sleeping pills before a flight from Nashville to London, following a tournament in Memphis.
‘There’s a lot of things I want to accomplish,’ said
Olesen, who was ranked 62nd in the world at the time of the incident but is currently 376th.
‘You have to stay in the present, obviously, but it’s been a while since I’ve been in the winner’s circle and that’s my main goal this year. I’ve not been working hard enough for a few years to be at that level, so I know there is a lot of work to be done.
‘I still have a lot of goals and that’s why I’ve started to work
hard again and I want to get back to winning and back up the world rankings.’
Lee Westwood, who is both a former winner and host of the event, had to settle for an opening 72 after dropping shots on his last two holes, while former Masters champion Danny Willett who is hosting for the second straight year — returned a 73.
‘It was a bit scrappy towards the end but if we can get ourselves a nice low one on Friday with fresh greens in the morning we can kind of put ourselves back in there,’ Willett said.