Having fun with a quick begin on the 122nd U.S Open — hosted at The Nation Membership in Brookline, Massachusetts — catastrophe struck on his fourteenth gap, the fifth gap, when McIlroy launched his tee shot in direction of a bunker on the correct facet of the golf green.
Confronted with a clumsy lie — the ball sat amongst the tall grass on the bunker’s tip — issues went from dangerous to worse because the 33-year-old efficiently escaped the bunker solely to observe his ball fizz into the sand of one other mere yards in entrance.
McIlroy forged a despairing take a look at his ft earlier than slamming his membership into the sand twice, with method imitating an — albeit aggressive — bunker exit shot.
Fittingly, the world No. three proceeded to point out his flawless method together with his subsequent exit effort from the center of the subsequent bunker, the ball scooping onto the inexperienced and rolling narrowly previous the opening.
Sinking his putt to avoid wasting par, McIlroy’s nice escape highlighted a formidable opening spherical that left him tied for the lead at three-under 67 when he returned to the clubhouse.
Two-under via the again 9 after beginning on the tenth gap, he had appeared set to complete his spherical because the outright chief with back-to-back birdies forward of the final tee.
Nevertheless, a clumsy strategy shot into the lengthy grass on the par-four ultimate gap left McIlroy needing one other miracle to make par. Throwing his membership away in anger, the response mimicked that of his fourteenth gap however the end result didn’t, with McIlroy pressured to finish the day together with his first bogey of the spherical.
‘Mentally I’m in a great place’
The Northern Irishman is chasing his twenty second PGA Tour win and fifth main triumph on the US Open, a match that gave him his first main triumph in 2011. McIlroy had received the British Open and the PGA Championship twice by the shut of 2014 however has not received a serious since.
“Taking part in 72 holes within the US Open is like enjoying below strain your complete time regardless that the match would not actually begin till the weekend,” McIlroy advised Sky Sports activities after his spherical.
“I feel mentally I’m in a great place which I confirmed as we speak with among the par saves and making an attempt to maintain myself going.”
He shares the lead with Sweden’s David Lingmerth and England’s Callum Tarren, with a number of huge names but to card their opening spherical in Boston.
