Image Courtesy: Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy had a devastating start of his round at The Open, all hell broke down when he had made five bogeys in his six holes, and his caddie JP Fitzgerald could not take it more.
It could have been a very humiliating finish for the current World No.4, earlier World No.2 unless he did not manage to pull off four birdies in his back nine holes.
McIlroy’s game had turned wayward for him, with the wind adding up the problems for him, missing fairways, and weak around the greens, by the sixth hole he was already 10 shots back from the leader Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy has been open about his bad habits of blowing out at the majors by throwing in two hours of golf, and this seemed like another occasion of the same.
His score card read a total score of 1 over par by the end of the day, in which the round consisted of five bogeys, and four hard earned birdies on the back nine, with the help of his caddie.
His game was off from the 1st onwards, where he skittered a chip off the green, clunked it back up to the fringe and then made a 15ft putt for his bogey, the first, if not the worst, of five in six holes. It was a sorry stretch of golf, as bad as he has played in a major in a long while.
At the 3rd, McIlroy took three putts after his first, over and around a mean little hillock, fetched up well short of the hole. At the 4th he had to splash out of a bunker and then missed a 10ft putt on the left. The 5th was another three-putt, the second of them a particularly egregious miss. And then, after zig-zagging his way around the 6th fairway, his par putt caught the back lip and rolled right back out again.
McIlroy’s caddie JP Fitzgerald was heard “You’re Rory McIlroy, what the fuck are you doing?” He was not the only one wondering. “Wake up Rory!” bellowed a fan over the desultory applause as McIlroy walked by. After the round, McIlroy said Fitzgerald’s question helped him snap back to life. “At that point, I mumbled and said: ‘Whatever.’ But it did, it helped. It definitely helped. It kept me positive. He just sort of reminded me who I was and what I was capable of. And gave me a few positive thoughts.”
Thus keeping him alive for the tournament, Rory would surely not forget this support from his caddie and supporters.
Want to know how the First round unfolded at The Open? Read here.
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