Tiger Woods slightly ahead of Rory Mcllroy in the first round at The Barclays
The Barclays first round ended with Padraig Harrington leading the field by two shots. However, everybody was more interested in the duel between Rory Mcllroy and Tiger Woods. It was always expected to be a close contest between the two and fans did get
what they had hoped for.
Tiger Woods closed the round just one shot ahead of the Irishman but when Mcllroy started, it looked as if he will race away to the finish line.
He opened with four birdies on the first eight holes but two bogeys on the back nine pegged him back a little. Right from the start, Rory took out his driver and started aiming at the pins, the way he did at Kiawah Islands.
"It definitely could have been a few shots better," Mcllroy said of his round. "But I am happy with how I played."
His two bogeys might hurt him a little but he is a crowd entertainer and his big booming drives have always been appreciated by the fans.
Tiger Woods on the other hand showed the class of a mature player. He never used his drivers, instead, he first got the feel of the course and then made his moves.
He had just one birdie on the first eleven holes, Tiger started off with three-woods and his putter clicked at the right time, scoring three birdies on the last eight holes.
"I did not quite hit the ball as well as I would like," said Woods, who needed 28 putts to shoot 68. "I am going to do some work this afternoon and work on a couple things that I know I need to shore up for tomorrow. But very pleased with the way I putted.
I putted great today."
Rory was happy about the fact that he was grouped with one of the legends of the game because it always helps him maintain his focus right from the start of the event.
“It is always good. It is nice, especially the first round of a tournament. It always adds a little bit of intensity to it, I think”.
Rory had a smile on his face at the end of the first day but when the tournament moves into the final two rounds, this smile will be replaced with a more serious face.
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