Rory’s sinking his teeth into the real battle
It was a dentist who announced Rory McIlroy’s presence on the tee at Pebble Beach yesterday, and the first round of the Us Open has often felt like pulling teeth for the world’s No 3.
Not this time. McIlroy delivered the golf of a potential winner, arguably his strongest opening round since the UsPGa in 2014. this was, if not the best he can be, then certainly an approximation of it. the last three times he shot 68 or better on the opening day of a major, he won all three.
skip Gist was the molar-puller in question, a UsGa rules official and referee, charged with introducing the players on the shores of the Pacific coast in the crisp early morning. ‘From Northern Ireland, the 2011 Us Open champion, Rory McIlroy,’ announced skip. It seemed like ancient history.
that was the last time McIlroy broke 70 in this tournament on day one, the start of a procession to victory that appeared to mark the dawning of a new age.
this edition finds McIlroy, if hardly in crisis, then certainly at a crossroads. Great names like Nick Faldo doubt his patience for the increasingly exacting tests of major championships, or his resolve to see off determined rivals such as Brooks Koepka.
McIlroy has missed the cut at his last three Us Opens and hasn’t been inside the first 50 after his opening 18 holes since 2014. Here, though, was the riposte to that negativity.
He started at the 10th, to the sound of waves breaking and a backdrop of dog walkers and joggers on the sand, but this wasn’t the California the Beach Boys sang about.
It was cold, long sleeves required even for an Ulsterman, and three layers for the australian in his group, Marc Leishman.
and McIlroy started on a downer, bemoaning his wastefulness as he directed a second shot from an excellent position into a bunker left of the green. Bogey. Just 24 hours earlier, McIlroy had talked of needing to make a good start, that too often he is as good as rolling a rock uphill by thursday evening. Here we go again.
Yet, from there, he rallied. It was to be his sole bogey of the day. He wasn’t cautious, he wasn’t conservative, he was still McIlroy — but he played the golf needed to contend a Us Open. He hit the middle of the fairway, most times.
He got on greens in regulation, usually. Look, he’s never going to be perfect. It is hard to imagine he will ever win another major as dominantly as he took the 2011 Us Open. But then, few will.
this is already looking like a proper scrap; a war on the shore.
Yet if that is what it takes to win, McIlroy showed yesterday that he is ready for the challenge. when required, a couple of his saves were audacious. He birdied holes that are placed among the toughest at this unique venue.
and he left a few out there, that might drop on another day. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the weekend.
at least the money is on him being here then.
He withstood significant pressure, too. starting with a bogey, it doesn’t help when a player in your group goes off like a rocket. that was Jon Rahm.
Birdie, birdie, birdie. struggling to get going the same way, McIlroy could have got down. He didn’t. He dug in. Left a putt hugely short on the 12th, misjudging the speed — the greens aren’t like glass yet, but wait until sunday — but he saved par rather than surrendered another shot. and he was patient.
He bided his time, got beneath the hole for a birdie opportunity on 13, drained it. then he was away. Confident, aggressive even.
He came here on the back of a 61 to win the Canadian Open. that was his blueprint, he said, and he stuck to it, despite the challenge of Pebble Beach.
It is not just the spectacular nature of the location that makes it special. tiny greens. snake-hipped landing strips. this wasn’t like some recent editions of the tournament, when the players become convinced the UsGa is working against them, and the numbers were not as punitive as recent years. But it was still bold to take it on, as McIlroy did.
‘Kick right, somehow,’ he pleaded with his ball on the last. and it did. that is the reward for bravery. McIlroy had hit a monster, straight, drive on the course’s hardest hole, and here was the payback. sinking the putt would have taken him to four under. It was not to be.
Four birdies, 13 pars, one bogey. the famous McIlroy bounce may even be seen around Pebble Beach if he can step up from here.
He shot 65 at Congressional in 2011 and establish a three shot lead, yet few tournaments are won by the front-runner. and his average round at previous Us Opens has topped 74.
where McIlroy made birdie was the clue. Us Open courses have a key and the winners unlock it.
at the notoriously tricky 17th — playing as the eighth to those starting on the back nine — his second was so good he was left with a straightforward 12 foot putt. when does the Us Open yield a straightforward putt? Only if you put it precisely where they demand.
the par-four second is one of Pebble Beach’s hardest. It usually averages scores of 4.5. McIlroy birdied that, too. Hit another fabulous second to 12 feet.
He followed that with a birdie at the third, and only lipped out for a third consecutive birdie at the fourth. the saves were mightily impressive, also. He chunked a chip on to the nursery at the fifth, then sunk the putt to par. He went through the green on the eighth, but scrambled for par again.
‘I did what I wanted to do, which was hit it in the fairways for the most part, hit a lot of greens and when I didn’t I was able to get up and down,’ said McIlroy.
‘It was a good day’s work. these are benign conditions, very soft for a Us Open, so you needed to get out there and shoot in the 60s. Get off to a good start and you are right in the tournament. It’s a nice position to be in.’
Better than the usual trip to the dentist, certainly. No offence, skip.