<p>This is how Rory McIlroy celebrated winning the Masters but he was still happy to birdie the last in the Truist Championship last night.</p>
Rory McIlroy was more concerned about holing a putt than "doing a Nick Faldo" when he birdied his final hole in the Truist Championship in Charlotte.
The world number two holed little on the greens at Quail Hollow until he rolled in a 15-footer at the ninth to follow 17 pars with a birdie at the ninth and open with a one under 70 that left him seven shots behind clubhouse leader Matt McCarthy.
"I didn't," McIlroy said with a smile when asked if he wanted to emulate Faldo's memorable 18 successive pars in the final round of the 1987 Open Championship at Muirfield.
"Yeah, I was thinking more like I knew that I made so many pars, but I was thinking I can't remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn't have a birdie.
"I think I was like just 'try to make one'. I didn't make birdie at seven, didn't make birdie at eight, so then I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there at the last."
McIlroy raised his arms above his head in mock triumph but insisted he was not frustrated by his 30-putt round.
"I wasn't frustrated, I was hitting good putts," said the Masters champion, who had to hoist a 190-yard nine over a tree to find the green at the ninth.
"Some days they just don't want to go in. No, I wasn't. I was just trying to stay patient because I felt like I was hitting good putts. I overread a couple on the front side.
"Then I under-read a couple as a reaction to the over-reads. I was just sort of trying to -- it was more of a read thing than -- I was starting the ball on my line and hitting good putts.
"I just needed to figure out the reads a little bit better. But sort of felt like I got into it by the end of the round."
As for his celebration, he said: "It was just more, it was just nice to see one go in at the end, something to build off."
McCarthy shot an eight-under 63 to lead by a shot in the clubhouse from Sunjae Im, who was on the 18th fairway when play was suspended at the end of a weather-disrupted day.
Kristoffer Reitan, Nick Taylor, Harry Hall, Nicolai Højgaad and defending champion Sepp Straka were on five-under,
At the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, Seamus Power was tied for 17th, four shots behind Scotland's Martin. Laird, after opening with a three under 68 at Dunes and Beach Golf Club.
Meanwhile, at LIV Virginia, Graeme McDowell's five under 67 left him tied for sixth, three shots behind Lucas Herbert, at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC.
An eight under 64 gave Herbert a one-shot lead over Marc Leishman, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Sebastián Muñoz as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm shot 69s to share 11th.
DeChambeau was returning to action after missing the final round of the previous LIV Golf tournament in Mexico with a wrist injury and bogeyed two of his first three holes.
"The wrist is feeling better," said DeChambeau, who won in Singapore and South Africa on back-to-back weeks.
"I've had some shoulder stuff since the Ryder Cup. I don't know what happened. It's been trained. It's been treated.
"We've worked on it. We've done a bunch of stuff, MRIs. It's all been fine. It's been eking at me for quite a while.
"When I won those two events, I was waking up every day, uh-oh, is it going to hurt today? It's a bit overused.
"I'm grinding to figure it out. … I'm proud of the way I fought out there, not hitting it my best."
Tom McKibbin, who makes his sixth Major start in next week's US PGA, was 16th after an opening 70.
On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire’s rollercoaster season continued in the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey.
The Co Cavan star, who has missed four of her last five cuts but sits 26th in the ranking thanks mainly to her runner-up finish in the Aramco Championship, opened with a four-over 76 at Mountain Ridge Country Club.
She was ten strokes behind Andrea Lee, who made eight birdies in a six-under 66 to lead by a shot from Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
On the DP World Tour, Shaun Norris eagled his final hole to take the first round lead in the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship as many players dressed in navy blue and white to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of the great Seve Ballesteros
The South African carded an eight-under 64 to lead by a shot from France’s Alex Levy and Scots David Law and Ewen Ferguson at Real Club de Golf El Prat.
“Today is a special day, for better or for worse, because it’s been many years since he passed away,” said Ballesteros’ son, Javier. “Obviously, with the Ryder Cup and the way he played and how he walked the courses, it is nice to see some of the young players dress in his colours to remember him in a little way.”
On the HotelPlanner Tour, John Ross Galbraith and Gary Hurley were the best of the Irish after the opening round of the Italian Challenge Open.
Four-under-par 68s left them tied for 18th, six shots behind American Jhared Hack, who fired a bogey-free 10-under 62 to open up a four-stroke lead at Golf Nazionale.
Galway’s Ronan Mullarney was joint 30th after a 69, but the other six Irish hopefuls were outside the top 60 who will make the cut.
James Sugrue and Robert Moran were a shot outside the mark after 71s as Liam Nolan shot 72, Mark Power a 73, Max Kennedy a 77 and Conor Purcell an 82 that included a quadruple bogey nine at his seventh hole
Article Link: McIlroy hoping to build on last gasp birdie in Charlotte - News - Irish Golf Desk