Rory McIlroy insisted he felt no frustration despite requiring 30 putts during his opening round at Quail Hollow, attributing his struggles to misreading the greens rather than poor stroke quality.
The Northern Irishman’s round at the Truist Championship proved remarkably unusual, with the 36-year-old recording 17 consecutive pars before finally breaking through on his final hole.
When he finally sank a 15-footer on his closing hole, the Northern Irishman raised his arms overhead in mock triumph, later describing it as “something to build off.”
“I wasn’t frustrated, I was hitting good putts,” the Masters champion explained afterwards.
“Some days they just don’t want to go in.”
The world number two acknowledged he initially overread several putts on the front nine, then compensated by underreading others as a reaction.
“I just needed to figure out the reads a little bit better. But sort of felt like I got into it by the end of the round,” McIlroy said.
Rory McIlroy insisted he felt no frustration despite requiring 30 putts during his opening round at Quail Hollow, attributing his struggles to misreading the greens rather than poor stroke quality
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Asked whether he had considered matching Nick Faldo’s famous 18 straight pars from the 1987 Open Championship at Muirfield, McIlroy smiled and dismissed the notion.
“I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie,” he admitted. “I think I was like just ‘try to make one’.”
After failing to convert birdie opportunities at the seventh and eighth holes, McIlroy thought his chance had gone before hoisting a 190-yard nine iron over a tree to reach the ninth green.
Five things to know about Rory McIlroy | GETTY
His one-under 70 left him trailing Matt McCarthy by seven strokes.
McCarthy set the pace with an impressive eight-under 63, establishing a one-shot advantage in the clubhouse over Sunjae Im, who was standing on the 18th fairway when officials halted proceedings due to adverse weather.
A group of five players sat three shots further back on five-under par, including defending champion Sepp Straka alongside Kristoffer Reitan, Nick Taylor, Harry Hall and Nicolai Højgaard.
The weather-disrupted day at Charlotte prevented several competitors from completing their rounds, leaving the leaderboard in flux heading into the second day’s play.
Elsewhere on the secondary tour, Séamus Power opened with a three-under 68 at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, placing him tied for 17th and four strokes adrift of Scotland’s Martin Laird.
At LIV Virginia, Graeme McDowell produced an encouraging opening effort, his five-under 67 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington DC leaving him tied for sixth position.
Rory McIlroy is playing at the Truist Championship as he prepares for the PGA Championship later this month
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The Northern Irishman sat three shots behind pacesetter Lucas Herbert, whose eight-under 64 gave the Australian a single-stroke cushion over Marc Leishman, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Sebastián Muñoz.
Bryson DeChambeau returned to competition following a wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from the final round in Mexico, though he made a shaky start with bogeys on two of his opening three holes.
“The wrist is feeling better,” DeChambeau confirmed, adding he was “proud of the way I fought out there.”
Jon Rahm also carded 69, with both players sharing 11th place.
