Scottish Open;Rory McIlory shines with 63
Rory McIlory round took off on the back nine and he ended up with the lead of 9 under on the first day of 150th Open championship at St. Andrews.
Who was expecting Rory Mcllory to score 9 under in the second round on 15th July? Wearing a blue polo shirt underneath the black cardigan Rory McIlory held strong on his driver and blasted a tremendous shot at the 9th hole of 352 yards. The eagle flew high clearing both the bunkers situated in the middle of the fairway and rolled slowly on the putting area.
He shot the driver off the tee to 15 feet and holed the putt straight up the hill. Rory McIlory settled for eight under his last 10 holes. He smashed at a birdie at the 12th hole over the greens creating another record of 30 on back nine.
At the “Road hole” which is the 17th and the toughest on the old course stretching on double greens Rory McIlory hit a relevant short birdie putt after two solid strikes to mark the score of 63, the lowest 24th in the Open.
Rory McIlory has played six rounds as an amateur and two as a professional in St. Andrews, with stats of 69, 69, 67, 68, 67, 68, 65, and 69. Later in the day when Rory McIlory returned to the Royal & Ancient clubhouse, he had set record of 9 under par 63. Tiger Woods shares the same record of lowest 63 in a major at the 2007 PGA championship.
The day was clear with light breeze, at times no breeze at all, and a soft ground, thanks to the yesterday’s rain, the course was just perfect to take accurate targets. The true essence of the old course golfing challenge came out when Rory McIlory took a two shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen in the second round of the Open Championship. Before this record of the lowest score Rory McIlory had a 62 before, in the final round to win US tour title at Quail Hollow and a 61 at Royal Portrush five years back.
"I always felt that majors were like getting to the next level, and I always thought a major was a little farther away than it probably is," said McIlory.
Rory McIlory is in a lead by two from Louis Oosthuizen and by 3 from a group of five very strong players with 6 under. This group is composed of John Daly the 1995 open champion, Andrew Coltart and Bradley Dredge.
According to the 21 year old Irish he thought it would take another 3 to 4 year practice to give a tremendous challenge like this to big names like john Daly, and Tiger Woods but after seeing Graeme McDowell’s performance at the Pebble Beach, this journey to the destination did not seem far.
Coming to another falling star Tiger Woods ended with 5 under. In expectation of winning the 3rd Open title at St Andrews, Tiger Woods score card showed six birdies and just one bogey. On reaching the road hole he gave a three putt shot which resulted in the black star of bogey rest he played unexpectedly good.
According to Tiger Woods he is improving every week and he can see that coming through his performance at the first round which earned him 5 under par. He is hitting shots which he seemed to forget in last two majors. Not to forget Tiger Woods is the two time champion of the course. He has the advantage of knowing the course the way no one does but obviously there are changes on the course like the new tee box situated outside the perimeters of the course and few 40 yards that have been added to the 17th hole which was already a challenge to the players because of its double greens. Who makes the correct judgment and makes the lowest score till the end of the tournament is yet to be seen.
Tags: