Rory McIlroy makes a good start at the FedEx St. Jude Classic
The world number two Rory McIlroy carded a two-under par 68 in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic to share the seventh spot on Thursday, June 7, 2012.
McIlroy, who is eager to get his form back, looked happy at the end of the round and said that it was probably the best round he had played in the past few weeks.
"I felt like that was about the best round of golf I played in a while," McIlroy said. "It could have been a lot better. The scoring doesn't look too good. Off to a decent start, definitely so. Lot of good signs out there".
McIlroy added the tournament at the TPC Southwind to his schedule, as he wanted to play some good rounds prior to the start of the US Open, where he is scheduled to defend the title.
He missed the cut in each of the last three tournaments that he played, including the Players Championship, BMW PGA Championship and Memorial Tournament.
Therefore, it was necessary for him to make a better start in Memphis that will boost his morale for the upcoming week.
He believes that his score could have been a little better if he had avoided two bogeys on the front nine of the course.
Overall, he carded four birdies against the two bogeys to settle two strokes behind the leaders, Jeff Maggert and John Merrick, both of whom carded a four-under par 66 each.
In the meantime, 10 other players also joined him on the leaderboard, including the three-time major winner Padraig Harrington.
He is now happy to add the event to his schedule, which he normally avoids each year, as he used to believe that it was good to take some rest one week before the US Open.
However, this year he was forced to change his mind and if the results come positive, he may consider adding it to his schedule permanently in the coming years.
For the upcoming US Open, he is paired with the world number one Luke Donald and world number three Lee Westwood for the first two rounds.
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