McIlroy walks off annoyed despite joining elite club with 65 at US Open
Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy walk with their caddies off the 18th green during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
Rory McIlroy might have bogeyed the last, but he joined Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Jack Nicklaus in an exclusive club when he carded a five-under 65 to become one of just four players to shoot at least eight rounds of 65 or better in the Majors.
Johnson joined Woods with 10 when he carded a 64 to share third place with Wyndham Clark to share third place, two shots behind Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, who made history by carding the lowest rounds in US Open and Major history with eight-under 62s that Branden Grace's eight-under 62 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Nicklaus has nine rounds of 65 or better in the Majors, but McIlroy now has eight after he raced to the turn in five-under 30 — his lowest nine-hole score in a major— then birdied at the 15th before making an 11-footer to save a bogey at the last to share fifth place with left-hander Brian Harman on five-under.
The Holywood star did well to avoid a double-bogey after he tugged his approach to the 18th into deep greenside rough and moved his pitch just two feet.
But he drilled in the bogey putt for one of 37 rounds in the sixties on a day when the USGA's benign course setup allowed the field to card the joint fifth-lowest first-round scoring average in Major history — 71.38 — and the lowest in the history of the US Open, beating the previous low of 72.29 at Baltusrol in 1993.
It was also the first time no player shot in the eighties in a round of the US Open.
Sadly for Irish hopes, only McIlroy beat the scoring average as Shane Lowry and Seamus Power carded 72s to share 84th on two-over, and Pádraig Harrington posted a three-over 73 that left him tied 107th with Belfast amateur Matthew McClean.
After somewhat spoiling a brilliant round, McIlroy was annoyed as he walked off the 18th green, and his mood only darkened when he was called in for drug testing and opted not to speak to the media.
It was a superb performance from the Co Down man, albeit on a course setup that Harrington described as "very easy".
The USGA pushed up the tees on the three par-fours and the par-three 11th, reducing the overall yardage by 179 yards to 7,279 yards.
Schauffele and Fowler set the pace in the morning wave before McIlroy outscored PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka by six strokes in the afternoon, hitting 10 of 13 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation.
Johnson gained most strokes on the field from tee to green, but he insisted the course was no pushover despite the sea of red on the scoreboard.
"The course isn't really that gettable, obviously," the 2016 champion said. "If you play well and hit it in the right spots and you can be aggressive, you get a few wedges in your hand, but you've still got to hit a really good golf shot if you want to get it close to the hole.
"Today, obviously with the setup, it was definitely somewhat gettable if you drove it really well."
McIlroy meant business right from the start and birdied five on first of his first eight holes as he went out in 30 to match the lowest opening nine-hole score of his major career.
His best is a six-under 30 on the back nine of his first round of the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews when he shot 63 to take the first-round lead but followed that with an 80 in high winds.
He began by two-putting the first from 44 feet, then rolled in a 12-footer at the second and a 20-footer at the fifth to go three-under before running up his tee shot to three feet at the 258-yard seventh.
He would go on to two-putt the par-five eighth from 29 feet for his fifth birdie of the day to get within three shots of the leaders in tied third.
He hit seven of his first eight fairways before tugging drives into the rough at the 13th and 14th. But he still found both greens in regulation to maintain his 100 pc strike rate.
He went on to make a two from 11 feet at the par-three 15th before coming up just shy at the 16th to miss his first green in regulation.
He was one-under par through eight holes but double-bogeyed the 18th after he went from greenside rough into a bunker and failed to get up and down.
Bogeys followed at the second, fifth and sixth before he birdied the par-five eighth, and he looked disappointed with his score on a day when he felt the course was there for the taking.
"I just didn't hole the putts, and sometimes you need to make the putts to keep the momentum going,"
Harrington said. "There are one or two shots I'd like back, but it was mainly one or two putts that hit the lip.
"They set the golf course up very easy. All the tees were up, and it played very short. It was nice. There were a lot of much easier tee shots with the tees up.
"It was quite a pleasant play, and the greens weren't particularly quick, but most of my putts were downhill all day, so that wasn't helping."
He does not believe the USGA will react to the low scoring with a tougher setup on Friday.
"They will keep it the exact same because the pace of play was great compared to what they were expecting," he said, "so I think that they'll do the same tomorrow and then after that…"
He knows he will likely need to break par to make the top 60 and ties who make the cut, but he has no plans to be more aggressive.
"No, no, I wouldn't change," he said. "Definitely not more aggressive. If a couple of those putts drop, I'll be good to go.”
