McIlroy makes best-ever start at Riviera as Scheffler struggles again
Rory McIlroy shot the lowest opening round of his Riviera Country Club career to grab a share of the clubhouse lead in the Genesis Invitational and move closer to becoming the first player to reach 30 PGA Tour wins since Phil Mickelson 19 years ago.
The world number two overcame early rain, a three-hour weather delay, and the challenge of controlling spin into soft but speedy greens to fire a five-under 66 that left him tied at the top with Jacob Bridgeman when play was suspended due to darkness.
England’s Aaron Rai was six under with two to play, and an out-of-sorts Scottie Scheffler tied for last on five-over after another glacial PGA Tour start.
But as Shane Lowry had 33 putts in a two-over 73 that left him 54th in the 72-man field, McIlroy impressively cruised to his lowest opening round in nine spins around the famed Pacific Palisades track.
“I've started to just really enjoy this style of golf,” McIlroy said after a round that produced some moments of magic, including a pitch off the green over the infamous bunker to a few feet at the par-three sixth.
“If you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn't enjoy these conditions, but it's been a shift in a mindset and maybe just a continuation of trying to build upon the skill set that I have.
”Then when it does get to conditions like this, I'm a lot more prepared. I wouldn't say I enjoy them, but I can certainly handle them better.”
Like Tiger Woods and Scheffler, McIlroy has yet to win at Riviera, which is one of the most storied venues in the history of the PGA Tour.
He tied for fourth in 2019 and fifth in 2020, but while he has just one other top 10 finish, he’s put himself in position to potentially challenge for victory this week.
It’s his 275th PGA Tour start and he admitted that experience has helped him learn to deal with demanding conditions and work hard to improve his weaknesses.
“To start to enjoy them and have the shots to succeed on days like this, that's a really satisfying thing to be able to be, you know, nearly 20 years into a career and still feel like you're getting better at some aspects of the game,” he said.
While he enjoyed his par-saving chip to a foot at the 12th, it was his pitch over the bunker in the middle of the sixth green that drew more applause as he used the backstop to spin the ball back to a few feet and make three.
“So on 6, I really like tight lies,” he revealed. “I practice my chipping a lot off greens back home because it just, it really helps me control my low point and find the low point.
“If you can chip off of a really tight lie or a green like that, you can basically chip off any lie.
“So I do a lot of practice chipping off the green, the practice green at home at the Bear's Club.
“The superintendent probably doesn't like it too much, but it helps.”
After starting with rounds of 73 and 72 in his last two PGA Tour starts before rallying to finish in the top 10, Scheffler has his work cut out to contend this week and make it 19 top tens in a row.
He three-putted the first for par, bogeyed the second, sixth, and tenth and double-bogeyed the eighth to share last place with Garrick Higgo ahead of the 7 am restart today.
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire shot a level par 72 in the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand and goes into the weekend tied for 33rd on five-under.
She’s 12 strokes behind South Korea’s Somi Lee, who made nine birdies and an eagle two in a stunning, 11-under 61 to lead by three shots on 17-under from Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, who shot 63.
