McIlroy undoes good start at the Memorial with late triple bogey

Roy McIlroy

Just over 48 hours after Jack Nicklaus lamented Rory McIlroy's puzzling lapses of concentration, the world No 3 went from challenging for the lead in the Memorial Tournament to tied 33rd with a closing triple bogey.

"I don't know whether his is a constant lack of being able to keep that concentration for the whole thing or not because sometimes he is the par, par, par, double, 8," the Golden Bear said on Tuesday. "He does that sometimes."

This time it wasn't an eight but a seven at the 456-yard 18th, where McIlroy hit his tee shot onto a steep side slope in the right rough.

With the ball well about his feet, he moved his second just 25 yards into more deep rough, then got a flier through the green with his third.

His fourth flew through the green on the opposite side, and after flubbing his fifth a few feet onto the putting surface, he missed a fast-breaking nine-footer for a six and pencilled in a triple-bogey seven.

It took all the gloss off a good day and meant signing for level par 72.

While he's just five strokes behind Riley Davis, who shot a five-under 67 to lead by a shot from Matt Wallace, it was another frustrating moment in a year where the disappointments have overshadowed the results, which include a win and four top 10s from nine starts.

The good news is  McIlroy missed just four fairways all day and looks to have regained some confidence in his driver after it cost him his chance to contend at the PGA.
With the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club less than a fortnight away, the Holywood star could do with a boost, and he will have a chance to close on the leaders early today.
Shane Lowry and Seamus Power are afternoon starters after they opened with respective rounds of 69 and 70.
Lowry ran the tables on the greens early on with five consecutive birdies from his second hole, while Power also enjoyed a hot streak in the middle of his five-birdie round.

The Offaly man, who was tied third overnight with Danny Willett, Adam Hadwin, Mark Hubbard, Austin Eckroat, David Lipsky and Jordan Spieth was determined not to beat himself up for dropping three shots in four holes around the turn while Power was pleased with a two-under round that left him tied 10th place with the likes of Jon Rahm.

"I said to my caddie (walking down the back nine) that just because I got off to a hot start, I feel like it's playing easy, and it's important not to get down on myself after making a few bogeys," Lowry said.

"Three-under's a pretty good score around here. I'm pretty happy with my start."

Power might have been speaking for McIlroy, when he said: "I know I made a couple of mistakes, but it's tough out there.

"You can't really afford to miss a fairway on certain spots, and there are very few things you can miss, so it's just tough going.

"I did a lot of things well. Would like to have one or two back, but that's just golf in general."

It was also a good day for Stephanie Meadow, who saw some light at the end of the tunnel after a recent rough patch by making six birdies in a four-under 68 to lie tied third in the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in New Jersey.

She was just three shots behind American Lauren Hartlage, who shot a seven-under 65 for a two-shot lead over India's Aditi Ashok as former world amateur number one Rose Zhang opened with a 70 on her professional debut to lie joint 12th.

Leona Maguire was among the later starters and followed birdies at the ninth and 11th with a bogey six at the 13th in a 71 that left her tied 26th.

"I putted good," said Meadow, who has missed three of her last four cuts. "But I hit some really solid iron shots today, which was nice.

"It was nice to see the shot shape that I wanted to hit was actually happening and going close, so that was nice. It's just nice to see some things that I have been working on coming through to tournament play.”

At the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, Tom McKibbin's one-under 72 left him tied 14th at Green Eagle Golf Club, just three shots behind Germany's Max Kieffer and Sweden's Simon Forsström with John Murphy tied 40th after a 74.

It was also a good day for Niall Kearney, who shot a bogey-free, five-under 67 to lie in a six-way tie for third in the D+D Real Czech Challenge at Panorama Golf Resort.

He was just one stroke behind South Africa's Jarvis Casey and German amateur Wolfgang Glawe.