Finally a good major debut for Rory McIlroy. Without a Grand Slam since the summer of 2014 and a victory at Valhalla at the USPGA, the Northern Irishman has since taken up the bad habit of starting his Grand Slams with laps above par. With an accumulation of +35 in eight years during his most important Thursdays on the calendar (compared to -68 for the following three cards), the native of Hollywood then turned into a potato hunter, hanging a sacred collection of top 10 at the highest level (14 in Grand Slam since 2014).
This was not the case Thursday in Tulsa, on a course revamped in 2019 to withstand the standards of modern pro golf. A Southern Hills which however could not cope with the 320 meters average drive of the world number 7, which in passing only missed four fairways. Passed in -4 (he started from 10), returned in -1, he was also strong in putting (+3.33 in stroke gained putting and accumulation of 33 meters of successful putts). A real full golf demo to finally sign a 65, his best major start since 2014 (66, at Valhalla).
Smith still in the game
Starting with two cards of 73 in Augusta last month, to finally finish with a 64 and three strokes behind the winner Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy has in Oklahoma a step ahead of Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge. But also two shots on the Kuchar-Ancer-Thomas triplet, while the top 10 is populated in particular by Cameron Smith, Matt Fitzpatrick or Xander Schauffele (all 7th, 68).
Aggressive as possible with his best weapon (the driver), the holder of four major titles did not release the accelerator pedal, until concluding his game with a 7th birdie: “When you get off to a good start like that sometimes you can start to be a little more cautious or give yourself a little more room for error, but I stuck to my game plan”said McIlroy. “I stayed aggressive, I still used the driver on hole 4, I also took an aggressive line on hole 5 (drive of 337 meters). I stuck to what I was trying to do, which I’m happy with. »
Scheffler over par, Woods 99th
Heavyweights struggled more on Thursday, with world number one Scheffler saving 38th place in +1, or Jordan Spieth, in the race for a personal Grand Slam and who will have to work magic on the remaining three laps (56th, +2, tied with Collin Morikawa). Jon Rahm is even further (78th, +3), while Tiger Woods, despite two early birdies, was ultimately unable to keep up (99th, +4).
