Rory McIlroy pleased with reduced green speeds in US Open winds
SOUTHAMPTON – Rory McIlroy was happy to see the US Golf Association slow the greens in Thursday’s first round of the US Open with brutal winds testing top golfers at Shinnecock. After talk of losing the course in 2004 and 2018 when the US Open was played at Shinnecock with gusting winds and lightni
By Sph Media Limited
SOUTHAMPTON – Rory McIlroy was happy to see the US Golf Association slow the greens in Thursday’s first round of the US Open with brutal winds testing top golfers at Shinnecock.
After talk of losing the course in 2004 and 2018 when the US Open was played at Shinnecock with gusting winds and lightning-fast greens, the USGA slowed the speed of the putting surfaces from where they were earlier this week.
“Greens are pretty slow and quite receptive. I think they need to be at this point,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a challenging golf course already, and you put 30mph winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well. They were prudent with the course setup. You just want to get everyone around without too much issue. They’ve set the course up for that, at least today.”
McIlroy could not take full advantage, however, firing a one-under 69 and twice squandering the lead, first with bogeys at the 13th and par-five 16th holes, then by closing with back-to-back bogeys at the eighth and ninth after making an 11-foot eagle putt at the par-five fifth.
Wyndham Clark surged to a four-stroke lead when darkness halted the round.
“With the conditions today, anything under par or around even par is a good score,” McIlroy added.
“It was a day to really just keep yourself in the tournament and not shoot yourself out of it, which is exactly what I did eight years ago here.”
At the 2018 US Open, McIlroy opened with an 80, matching his worst Major round score to par at 10 over.
“The big thing I needed to change was my mindset,” McIlroy said. “It hasn’t looked as if I’ve done a rebuild of my game, but it has felt like it in terms of the way I approach the game and the value I place on certain shots and certain skills within the game.”
The Northern Irishman was more cautious and it helped, noting that when he was off target, “I missed it in pretty much all the right spots”.
Clark, meanwhile, made an eagle and two birdies in three holes to surge to his lead.
The 32-year-old American started on the back nine and answered a bogey at the par-three second hole with back-to-back birdies at three and four, the latter from 22 feet, and sank a three-foot eagle putt at the par-five fifth to reach six-under.
Clark, the 2023 US Open champion who says he is seeking redemption after smashing a locker at Oakmont after missing the cut at last year’s championship, parred six after a 61-foot chip to within inches of the hole then parred the seventh before play was halted.
“It was a nice start for sure,” he said.
“It was a tough day. It was tough for everybody, I think. Biggest thing for me, I stayed patient. Didn’t have my best stuff, but I made a lot of putts and saved myself to keep the momentum going.
“Happy with where I’m at for sure.” AFP