Rory McIlroy at Irish Open 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Twitter Reaction
Rory McIlroy's Irish Open woes continued on Thursday, as he opened this year's tournament with a stuttering nine-over 80 at Royal County Down.
McIlroy previously missed the cut at his last two appearances in the Northern Irish event, which happens to be hosted by his foundation this year. The world No. 1 promised to donate his prize money to the cause, per BBC Sport, but he will need some fortune if he's to land the main prize.
Upon completion of his round, he sat 12 shots off clubhouse leader Soren Kjeldsen, having posted nine bogeys and no birdies throughout a testing day in rainy conditions. Here's a look at the top five at the time of McIlroy signing his card as well as his individual scorecard:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| 1 | Soren Kjeldsen | -3 | 17 |
| T2 | Danny Willett | -2 | 18 |
| T2 | Emiliano Grillo | -2 | 14 |
| T2 | Matthew Fitzpatrick | -2 | 13 |
| T2 | Alexander Levy | -2 | 1 |
It's worth noting McIlroy began his day on the 10th, as reflected in the breakdown of his score:
| Par | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 41 |
| Total | 0 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +5 |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Score | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 39 |
| Total | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +9 | 80 |
Be sure to check out the full leaderboard on the European Tour's official website.
McIlroy Plummets in the Northern Irish Rain
McIlroy opened the tournament with one bogey across his first five holes, an acceptable start on a challenging course. However, the downpour of rain was almost symbolic for what was about to come.
He shot four consecutive bogeys to plummet down the leaderboard at the turn, a surprising run of form despite his previous troubles in front of local supporters.
The European Tour's Twitter account provided a snippet of McIlroy in action:
"Rory McIlroy's "stinger" drive. pic.twitter.com/0LSGqZhxeT
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 28, 2015"
B/R UK's Matt Jones suggested McIlroy, who was five over after nine holes, may need some time off:
Things didn't improve for McIlroy. He ended his quartet of bogeys by maintaining par across the next three holes, but then he dropped two further shots on four and five to further fall down the leaderboard heading into the final stages of his round.
Sports site Balls.ie poked fun at the 26-year-old's form:
SkySports.com writer Alex Ferguson made his thoughts known too:
McIlroy slipped to eight over with two holes remaining, a situation that forced bookmaker Geoff Banks into comparing the Northern Irishman's reign as No. 1 to Tiger Woods' previous success:
McIlroy attacked the last two holes in last position (93rd at the time of writing), suggesting he could miss a third consecutive cut at the event.
Jones provided an inevitable update as McIlroy made it to his last hole of the day:
McIlroy needed his first birdie of the competition to break the 80 mark, but in keeping with the rest of the day, this wasn't possible. He concluded by breaking even on the par-four nine, as tweeted by RTE Sport:
Once again, it seems the occasion has gotten the better of McIlroy. There was no lack of enthusiasm on his part—he wants to win this competition—but a combination of challenging conditions and his own ability to overthink shots places him in an unprecedented position.
It is entirely possible a below-par score will keep many in the running during this year's Irish Open. McIlroy has already left himself too much ground to make up, however, and he will need to perform admirably to make the cut at this point.
Although a potential dream victory at home made the headlines prior to Thursday's start, McIlroy's main focus should now be concentrating on achieving a respectable score.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
