“Just one of those days” for McIlroy as Lowry struggles in Phoenix
Rory McIlroy insisted it was "just one of those days" after opening with a two-over 73 that left him seven shots off the lead in the WM Phoenix Open.
As Shane Lowry bogeyed his last two holes to open with a four-over 75 and Seamus Power played just ten holes in level before play was suspended due to darkness, McIlroy admitted he struggled to deal with blustery conditions at TPC Scottsdale
"It was hard," said the world number one, who was tied 82nd at the close of play, seven shots behind Canadian duo Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. "I've been struggling with the left miss a little bit, so last week I was doing a lot of sort of trying to clear my body and almost trying to just hit like little fades, and there was a ton of left to right winds out there today.
"So it really felt like my ball just going on those left to right winds pretty hard and just never really got a handle on it.
"Again, I felt like I played okay and swung it okay, just one of those days."
The wind, which gusted to 25mph, was a major test all day.
Frost delayed the start by one hour and 50 minutes, but McIlroy and Lowry never warmed up in the desert.
The Holywood star found just four fairways as he mixed two birdies with four bogeys.
Starting on the back nine, he found water off the tee and bogeyed the 11th, recovered with birdies at the 15th and 17th, but soon handed those shots back with consecutive bogeys at the 18th and first.
He almost went out of bounds at the second but recovered brilliantly, hitting a 125-yard recovery from sand at the foot of railings to 44 feet to set up an adventurous par.
"I sort of got lucky because the wind was hard off the left, and I needed to hit that hard draw against the wind," McIlroy said. "It was the only way to stop it on that green."
He would drop another shot at the par-three seventh, where he flew the green by 20 yards despite producing what he felt was his best swing of the day.
"The wind was tricky, a ton of crosswinds, and then there would be times where it would feel into, and then it would go slightly down," he said.
"When you've got that 90-degree wind the whole time, if it changes just slightly one way or another, it's a completely different shot, completely different club, and I got caught out by that a couple of times coming in, which wasn't ideal.
"I actually felt the best swing I made of the day was the par-3, 7th, and hit it 20 yards over the green.
"Tricky day. Hopefully the wind keeps up this afternoon for the guys out there, and we'll get back at it tomorrow."
It was an even more challenging day for Lowry and new caddie Darren Reynolds.
The Offaly star dropped an early shot at the fourth, but while he made a 38-footer from the fringe for par at the seventh, his putter was ice cold.
He would bogey the ninth to turn in two-over before driving into the water at the 11th to slip to three-over par.
A birdie at the par-five 15th got him back to two-over, but he finished with two bogeys, three-putting from 73 feet at the 17th before failing to get up and down from left of the green at the 18th.
Lowry's 75 left him tied for 117th and ranked 80th for strokes gained putting.
But Power was tied 38th on level par through 10 holes after following a birdie four at the third with a bogey at the ninth, where he drove into a fairway bunker.
At the top of the leaderboard, Canadian pals Taylor and Hadwin shot five-under 66s when play was suspended because of darkness, with the entire afternoon wave unable to finish.
Xander Schauffele opened with a 67. Jason Day and Jim Herman also were four under, with Day finishing ten holes and Herman 13.
Local resident Jon Rahm eagled the par-five 13th to get to three-under as play was suspended while defending champion Scottie Scheffler was one under through 11 holes.
Jordan Spieth shot 71, making four birdies and four bogeys, while Justin Thomas was one- over after 12 holes.
