At Open, McIlroy has the Luck of the Irish
North Ireland's Rory McIlroy was the talk of the Old Course yesterday as he burned through the competition, equalling the course record to finish the first day at 63. After just one round, McIlroy has transformed from the young ambitious kid with stars in his eyes into a wiser, older, and deservedly more confident player.
Eight other players have scored a 63 in British Open history, and the only person to go on to win it was Greg Norman when the 1986 Open was held at Turnberry. Of the past seven championships held on the St Andrews course- they date back to 1970 – the first round leader has gone on to win the Claret Jug only twice. John Daly accomplished this to the surprise and astonishment of the golfing community in 1995, and to no one’s surprise Tiger Woods accomplished this in 2005.
McIlroy, 21, arrived at St Andrews full of the same youthful ambition we remember from three years ago when the kid grabbed his European Tour card during the Dunhill Links in 2007. “That was the week that set everything up for me,” McIlroy said of his burst into the golfing world. McIlroy is hoping to make the most out of this week’s tournament as well.
Best ever score at St Andrews
McILroy has played a total of nine rounds at St Andrews throughout his career, with scores of 69,69,67,68,67,68,65,69 and yesterday’s 63 is his second lowest recorded score. He has never gone over 69, making his chances as the Open champ very realistic. His overnight lead was over taken this morning by Louis Oosthuizen, but as McIlroy says,
“It's only the first day and there's 54 holes to go. I can't really be thinking about that to be honest," he said of his chances of winning the tournament.
Realistically how can’t he think about it? McIlroy’s career has been aiming in this direction since he was six years old, drumming golf balls into his mother’s washing machine and upsetting the neighbours. He was ten years old when he won the Boys’ World Championship in Florida, the start of his momentous career already underway.
“He’s a great kid,” said former Tour player and McIlroy’s manager Chubby Chandler. “And he is at his best when he is out there freewheeling. Earlier this year he got himself bogged down a bit after he talked to a lot of people and filled his head with this theory and that. Some of it was good advice of course but he needed to get rid of the rest and he has done that brilliantly this summer."
Bad weather a first for McIlroy
McIlroy has never played the St Andrews course in the windy weather they are experiencing now. The wind is up and the rain is down but McIlroy seems to be keeping things under control.
“I’ve actually never played St. Andrews when the weather has been bad. That’s probably why my scores have been quite good . . . I’m not sure what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, but if I could go out with the same mindset as I did today, that’s all I can ask of myself.”
He was very lucky yesterday, that is true, but he is also a very talented player and has just as much a shot at winning this as any of the older more experienced players.
Seven-time veteran of the Open at St Andrews Tom Watson warned golfers not to expect the rest of the tournament to pay out as well as Thursday’s rounds did.
“She didn’t have her clothes on today,” Watson said of the Old Course. “She was ripe for low numbers and that’s what happened out there today . . . What she gave away this morning she will take away the next three days and it will be a wonderful test of golf.”
Watson is a five-time Open champion and carded a one-over 73 in the first round. He missed his shot at a sixth title last year when Stewart Clink outplayed him at Turnberry.
Tags: