McIlroy sufffers late collapse in LA
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up a putt on the No. 17 hole during the first round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 6, 2023.
Rory McIlroy went from contending for the lead to staring at the cut line after he bizarrely dropped five shots in his last four holes and opened with a three-over 74 in the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles last night.
On a day when a nervous Tiger Woods (48) made his first official start since withdrawing from the Masters last April and mixed the brilliant with the rusty, shanking his approach to the 18th en route to an understandably rusty, one-over 72, McIlroy's late collapse came out of nowhere at a sun-kissed Riviera Country Club.
The world number two played almost flawlessly for his first ten holes, rolling in birdies at the first, fifth and 10th before he horseshoed out from three and a half feet for a birdie four at the 11th.
He laughed off the miss, but he was never the same afterwards and followed a bogey at the 12th with a double bogey at the 15th and a triple bogey at the 16th before a birdie-bogey finish left him ten strokes behind leader Patrick Cantlay in the City of Angels.
He's tied for 64th with Seamus Power in the 70-man field on three-over and with only the top 50 and ties (plus those within ten shots of the lead) making the 36-hole cut in this $20 million Signature Event, he has his work cut out today.
The Holywood star's first bogey didn't come until the 12th, where he drove into the right rough and came up short off the green in two.
He'd par the next two holes but he then ran up a double-bogey six at the 15th, where he came up just short of a greenside bunker with his approach from deep rough, flubbed his third over the bunker into more rough and took three more to get down.
Back to level for the day, worse was to follow at the 166-yard 16th, where he failed to escape a deep greenside bunker at the first attempt and three-putted from inside eight feet for a triple-bogey six.
He showed his class by angrily reducing the 609-yard 17th to a 329-yard drive, a towering 280-yard draw with a long iron and two putts from 32 feet.
But it was only a sticking plaster on the wound and he'd drop another shot at the 18th after driving into more rough.
Even Cantlay, who was eight-under with three to play, had his problems, hitting a tree with his tee shot at the 166-yard 16th, where he had 58 yards for his second shot before eventually scrambling his lone bogey of the day.
The American eventually carded a seven-under-par 64 for a one-shot lead over Luke List and Australia's Jason Day and Cam Davis, with Tom Hoge, Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris a shot further back after 66s.
There was huge early interest in tournament host Woods, who made five birdies against six bogeys for a one-over-par 72 in the opening round as he continues his battles against a fused back and ankle.
"A lot of good and a lot of indifferent," Woods said. "It was one or the other. I don't know how many pars I had, wasn't many. I was either making birdies or bogeys and just never really got anything consistent going today.
"It was one of those days, just never really got anything consistently going and hopefully tomorrow I can clean it up."
The 15-time major winner admitted he felt nervous on the first tee and struggled to adjust to the pace of the slick greens.
"It is impossible to prepare for," he said of his nerves. "I rely so much on experience and having done this a long time, but still having the adrenaline dump in the system, ball goes further, speed goes up, just the yardages are a little bit different than they are at home.
"It's just different and that's just a part of playing competitive golf."
After starting birdie-bogey-bogey, he made birdie twos at the fourth and sixth to turn in one-under 34 but mixed four bogeys with two birdie fours on the back nine, as well as that shank with an eight iron on the 18th.
"I'm not going to say the word, but on 18 …" a reporter began in the post-round chat.
"Oh, definitely, I shanked it," Woods interrupted. "Well, my back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up. I came down, and it didn't move, and I presented hosel first and shanked it."
He also struggled with the blade, losing a shot to the field on the greens.
"I couldn't believe how fast they were today even though I made a couple," Woods said
The 15-time Major winner is tied 49th, just inside the cut line, but McIlroy and Power are three strokes outside the mark after disappointing days.
The West Waterford man hit just three greens in regulation last night, placing him last in the 70-man field.
That resulted from him hitting just four fairways — and only one on the front nine.
The Tooraneena man, now 107th in the world, is looking to regain the form that saw him break into the world's top 30 last year before a hip injury wrecked the second half of his season.
His presence in all the big Signature Events is a huge plus, but he's clearly not 100 per cent comfortable with his game, and a good Friday round might provide the spark he needs to ignite his season.
