A rusty Rory McIlroy dropped four shots in his last three holes to open with a scrappy four-over 74 in the FedEx St Jude Championship in steamy Memphis.
The Masters champion decided against skipping the event for the second year running, admitting he couldn’t afford to head into next week’s penultimate play-off event without a competitive round since The Open.
His fears were proved correct at TPC Southwind, where he hit just nine greens in regulation and followed bogeys at the 16th and 17th with a double-bogey at the 18th to end the day 68th in the 69-man field, nine strokes behind leaders Jordan Spieth, Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp and Michael Kim.
McIlroy got off to a slow start, turning in one-over 36 alongside FedEx Cup leader and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who shot 68.
The Co Down man dropped his first shot of the day at the par-five third, where he pushed his second shot into water.
He bounced back at the 199-yard fourth, brushing in a 14-footer for a birdie two, but handed that shot back at the 153-yard eighth, where he left himself a tricky second from right of the green and failed to save par.
The two-time Masters champion got back to level par with another birdie two at the 176-yard 11th but created few opportunities from there before running another bogey six at the 16th.
He drove into the trees right, but after getting a friendly ricochet that allowed him to hit a fairway metal for his second, he semi-topped it 89 yards and then took three to get down from just over the back.
He went on to bogey the 17th after overshooting the green, then hooked his tee shot into water at the 18th and ran up a double-bogey six.
Scheffler missed just one green in regulation despite hitting only four fairways
“I felt like I hit a lot of quality shots with my irons,” the Texan said. “I did a good job of being patient and not trying to force it too much.
“I feel like I was right on the edge of having a good day kind of all day is how I would describe it. So I felt like, patience-wise, I did a pretty good job.”
McIlroy wasn’t the only European Ryder Cup star to struggle at the water-strewn Tennessee venue.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre crashed to a 12-over par 82 to prop up the 69-man field.
Shane Lowry, meanwhile, rebounded from a mid-round wobble to keep his FedEx Cup Play-Off hopes alive with a one-under 69.
The former Open champion needs to finish in a two-way tie for 11th or better to make the top 50 in the standings who qualify for next week’s BMW Championship in St Louis.
But it was hard work for the Offaly man, who birdied the third and sixth to turn in two-under before finding water and running up a double bogey at the short 11th and dropping another shot at the 209-yard 14th.
One-over for the day, he steadied the ship and birdied the 15th and 16th to share 26th on one under.
At the Irish Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour, Kilkenny’s Mark Power birdied two of his last three holes to open with a four-under-par 68 and lead the home challenge at Killeen Castle.
The two-time Walker Cup player (26) made an eagle and five birdies to share 16th place, four strokes behind Spain’s Joel Moscatel and England’s Will Enefer, who shot eight-under 64s to lead by a shot from South African duo Justin Harding and Bryce Easton.
Ronan Mullarney’s 69 left him joint 25th on three-under with Gary Hurley, Hugh Foley and Simon Thornton the only other members of the 18-strong home contingent inside the all-important top-60 after 70s.
On the Ladies European Tour, Elm Park’s Anna Foster was tied for ninth after opening with a four-under 67 in the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
She was just three strokes behind Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall, who shot 64 in sweltering conditions to lead Spanish duo Luna Sobron Galmes and Amaia Latorre by one shot.
Annabel Wilson shot 72 to share 66th on one-over while Douglas’ Sara Byrne was 97th after a 74.
Co Clare’s Aine Donegan came back to earth after her maiden LET top-10 in last week’s PIF London Championship with a 76 and 113th place, while Olivia Mehaffey was 120th after a 77.
Article Link: Rusty McIlroy nine back in Memphis; Power best at Irish Challenge; Foster shines - News - Irish Golf Desk