"I need to putt better," McIlroy trails leaders by seven at Australian Open
Rory McIlroy in action at Royal Melbourne. Picture © Ethan Cunningham Photography
Rory McIlroy had to battle hay fever and a 4am alarm clock call, but he couldn't wake up his putter as he opened with a one-over 72 in the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
The world number two started by draining a 25-footer for birdie at the 10th hole on the Composite Course in front of massive galleries.
But he missed four footers for pars the 11th and 12th and while he went on to take his birdie haul to five with braces at the 14th and 15th and the second and third, he also pencilled in another four bogeys at the 16th, first, fourth and seventh.
He ended the opening day tied for 57th, seven strokes behind Australia's Elvis Smylie, New Zealander Ryan Fox and Mexico's Carlos Ortiz, who shot six-under 65s to lead by two shots from Denmark's Ramus Neergaard Petersen, France's Clement Charmasson and Scotland's Cameron Adam.
England’s Eddie Pepperell fired a 68 to lie three behind alongside Australian trio Corey Lamb, Stephen Leaney and Wade Ormsby and Kiwi Daniel Hillier.
With more benign weather expected on Friday, and potentially quicker greens after officials opted not to mow for round one’s windy conditions, McIlroy knows he must get a handle on the greens to contend.
"I need to putt better," McIlroy said after going out early in front of huge galleries with local heroes Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott, who both shot 69s to sit in a large group tied for 12th.
"I can feel myself struggling on the greens a little bit on Tuesday and Wednesday just to see reads, they're quite tricky to read in spots, so I struggled with the putting early on today.
"Holed some good ones. I think I was better from outside 25 feet than I was from inside five, so work on that a little bit.
"Yeah, I need to putt better, but yeah, I made enough birdies, but I just need to limit the mistakes a little bit, but it felt okay. It was good to get one round done and not feel like I'm too far back."
Massive crowds lined the 10th fairway at 7:05 am to see McIlroy, Scott and Lee.
The Holywood star was battling hay fever but he found the greens and even bigger challenge.
"It's tricky," he said. "Very, very tricky. Greens are getting firm. It was a good thing they didn't cut them today; it would've been unplayable.
"But yeah, really tricky conditions. Felt like I could have shot under par or shot something in the sixties, but it doesn't look like anyone's going to get too far away today.
"So I limited the damage, and hopefully conditions are a little better over the next few days and could make a run.”
He added: ”It's just hard to get the ball close. There’s a lot of crosswinds, and sometimes the wind's so strong, you feel like you can't start it far enough in one direction.
"Yeah, it is tricky. I mean, when you can't get it that close, and then you're just trying to two-putt those longer putts, it's hard to make up any ground."
As for his hay fever, he revealed he had to take medication before his curtailed, early morning warm-up.
"I struggled with hay fever early on, and then I took a Benadryl, and I feel a bit drowsy, so I might go take a nap,” he said.
"Woke up at 4 today. But that's a sort of curtailed warm-up. If the tee time wasn't so early, I like to get to the course, usually two and a half, three hours before my tee time.
“But I don't want to be turning up to the course at four o'clock."
Smylie, a winner on home soil during last season’s BMW Australian PGA Championship, overcame an opening bogey with seven birdies to set the early target.
“I’ve played around Royal Melbourne a lot of times before, so especially in this northerly breeze, which is quite a tricky breeze to play in,” Smyllie said. “I felt like I navigated it quite well.”
Kiwi Fox then made eight birdies to join him at the summit before Mexico’s Ortiz eagled the 17th to catapult himself to the top of the leaderboard.
The winner of the tournament will earn an invitation to the Masters, if not already exempt, while the top three non-exempt players who make the cut will win spots in The Open at Royal Birkdale.
