Rory McIlroy admits defeat after catastrophic first round ruins hopes of glory at the Open
RORY MCILROY has admitted he needed to get back to two-over par to stand any chance of mounting a comeback at the Open, but that all fell apart in the final three holes.
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McIlroy was the pre-tournament favourite heading into the first round on Thursday and had a large amount of support as he made his way to the first tee.
But there were grimaces as McIlroy sent his tee shot left to kickstart what proved to be a disastrous start at four-over par.
He managed to pull two birdies back at the turn on the seventh and ninth and looked as though he had a chance of salvaging his round.
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However, any chance of a comeback on Friday quickly disappeared on the 16th with some carless putting from just five feet.
He three-putted for a double bogey before adding a triple-bogey on the last to finish on eight-over for the round.
The 30-year-old Ulsterman entered the clubhouse 12 shots off then leader Shane Lowry who sat on four-under par and McIlroy knows there is no chance of him pulling back that sizeable gap now.
“When you play your first and last holes in a combined seven-over par you’re sort of making life tough for yourself,” he said.
“Understandably nervous on the first tee.
“I hit a bad shot OB [out of bounds], got a bad lie with the second tee shot and had to take an unplayable and obviously it wasn’t the ideal start.
“But after that I felt like I battled back.
“I showed some resilience with a couple birdies at the end of the front nine and then held it together in some pretty tough conditions at the start of the back nine.
“I lost concentration a little bit after the missed par putt on 16 and then again I hit a tee shot a couple yards off the fairway on the last and got a dreadful lie.
“I didn’t hit it well enough. I didn’t hit it in the right positions.
“I thought if I could have got home and shot two-over par for the day then I probably would have still been in the tournament but the finish sort of derailed that a bit.”