Rory McIlroy birdied his closing three holes to shoot 3-under 68 and sit two strokes off the first-round lead on the Irish Open on Thursday.
The No. 3-ranked McIlroy is making an attempt to win his dwelling match for the second time — eight years after the primary — and is taking part in at Royal County Down Golf Membership, a course that could be a brief drive from his childhood dwelling of Holywood in Northern Eire and the place he used to play along with his associates.
“It’s a serious championship-caliber golf course,” McIlroy stated. “It’s simply unlucky that we don’t have the infrastructure across the golf course to host one thing like an Open as a result of if we did, it undoubtedly would have the ability to host an Open Championship.”
Powerful winds and a few rain made for troublesome circumstances and No. 291-ranked Todd Clements of England handled it the most effective, making 5 birdies and a 15-footer for eagle on the 18th — his ninth gap — for a 66 and a one-stroke lead.
“I stated to my caddie strolling off, ‘That’s top-of-the-line rounds I’ve performed in my life,” Clements stated. ”It’s a tough course and yeah, delighted the way it panned out.”
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Sami Valimaki of Finland and Alejandro Del Rey of Spain had been in a tie for second after 67s. McIlroy was in a five-man group an extra stroke again — however solely after a robust end, simply as his spherical appeared like derailing after bogeys at Nos. 14 and 15 dropped him to degree par.
A faucet-in for birdie on the drivable sixteenth was adopted by a 12-footer for birdie on the seventeenth. He reached the inexperienced in two on the par-15 18th and two-putted from 50 ft for 3 in a row.
“I felt like I managed my ball flight properly,” McIlroy stated. “I’ve been working a little bit bit on my swing these final couple of weeks. I’ve in all probability struggled so much in left-to-right winds this 12 months, so to form of management my ball flight a bit and check it out there immediately was good to see that, , I used to be in a position to do it once I wanted to.”
McIlroy, who brazenly admits to struggling when taking part in in entrance of expectant dwelling crowds, is again in Europe after the tip of the PGA Tour season. So is Robert MacIntyre, the No. 16-ranked Scot who’s seeking to turn out to be the primary participant ever to win the Scottish and Irish Opens in the identical season.
MacIntyre opened with an even-par 71 whereas fellow Ryder Cup gamers Shane Lowry and Nicolai Hojgaard each shot 72.