McIlroy backs PGA TOUR bans for LIV rebels; Walsh set for Curtis Cup fourballs

TULSA, OK - MAY 21: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland on the 13th hole during the third round of the 2022 PGA Championship at the Southern Hills on May 21, 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America)

RORY McIlroy reckons PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has “done the right thing” by suspending all the LIV Golf Tour rebels for playing without releases.

While Graeme McDowell has joined the likes of Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood in resigning his PGA Tour membership, he won’t be allowed to play in any PGA Tour-sanctioned events from now on.

“I think at this point, Jay's been pretty transparent in terms of he's just going to act within the tournament regulations and the rules that are set for a PGA TOUR member,” McIlroy said after putting brilliantly to open his RBC Canadian Open defence with a four-under 66.

“All he's doing is basically going by the book. I think that the majority of the membership that are here this week and that haven't gone and played elsewhere really appreciate that.

“So I think he's done the right thing because these guys have broken rules and done things outside of the tournament regulations, and because of that, there are going to be consequences, I guess.”

The Co Down man found just five fairways at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto but scrambled five times out of seven as he made six birdies and over 100-feet of putts in a 23-putt round.

He was tied fifth, three shots behind Wyndham Clark, whose bogey-free, seven-under 63 gave him a one-shot lead over an impressive Matt Fitzpatrick.

“Yeah, really solid start,” McIlroy said. “66 around here is a good score. I felt like the course was there to go even lower just from the rain and how receptive it was.

“I maybe didn't put it in the fairway quite as much as I wanted to today, so that makes it tricky on some holes. But overall, just a really good day.”

It was also a good day for Shane Lowry, who carded a three-under 67 that might have been two shots better had it not been for three-putts at the first (his 10th) and sixth.

The Offaly man missed just two fairways and only three greens, which bodes well for next week’s US Open at the Country Club at Brookline.

“I played quite nice,” said Lowry, who was tied 10th overnight. “I actually wasn't that comfortable with how I was hitting the ball so I found a bit of rhythm on the range this morning and hit the ball really nice. I had a couple of three-putts on my back nine there but the green are tricky here and I got the wrong side of a couple of holes. I was pretty happy with that.

“I just called my coach Neil yesterday and we had a chat about things. From what I was telling him, he was able to understand what I was doing and we were able to figure it out. It was just a lot of rhythm and a lot of alignment and I was able to free up and hit some shots from there.”

As for his hot form this year, he put much of it down to the work he has done with putting coach Stephen Sweeney in Florida.

“I think my putting has really improved over the last year,” he said. “I changed my grip and worked pretty hard on it. I am happy with that. I think I am hitting the ball pretty similar to what I always did. So my putting stats are better which allows you to free up and go play. When you know you are going to hit good putts from inside 10 feet, you know you can free up and go at a few flags because you know you are going to chip it inside 10 feet. So that has been nice and long may it continue.”

At the DP World Tour’s Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed 2022, Jonathan Caldwell began his title defence with a one-under 71 at Halmstad Golf Club to share 57th place with Olivia Mehaffey, six shots off the lead.

Meanwhile, Kinsale’s John Murphy enjoyed a happy return to Girona for the Emporda Challenge, where he was third last year.

The former Walker Cup star was two-over after eight holes but came home in 31 on the front nine and carded a two-under 68 to lie just two shots behind Spanish duo Alejandro del Rey and Manuel Elvira and Finland’s Matia Honkala.

“I actually played that nine on one-over for the week last year so it was nice to shoot 31 coming home,” Murphy said.

Paul Dunne triple-bogeyed the 14th and bogeyed the last to shoot 71 and share 63rd  with Conor Purcell and Paul McBride 85th after 72s and Ruaidhri McGee 146th after a 76.

As for the Curtis Cup matches at Merion, Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh can’t wait to have another go at the Americans after losing at Conwy last year.

“I learned a lot from my experience last year because I hadn’t played a lot of fourballs before,” the Wake Forest star said. “Dealing with all the media and autographs, I’ve learned a lot from that and as for the course, it’s all about staying below the pin this week if we want to take it home.”

Curtis Cup, Merion

Day 1 - Morning fourballs - Scoring

7:30 am Hannah Darling / Annabell Fuller v Rachel Heck / Rachel Kuehn

7:42 am Caley McGinty / Lauren Walsh v Amari Avery / Megha Ganne

7:54 am Louise Duncan / Charlotte Heath v Rose Zhang / Emilia Migliaccio