Slow day for McIlroy and Lowry at Bay Hill as Power struggles in Puerto Rico
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry of Team Europe talk on the Black Course during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Michael Reaves/PGA of America)
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry didn’t get off to the starts they wanted in the $20 million Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Lowry couldn’t shake off his Cognizant Classic hangover and opened with a two-over 74 that left him tied for 55th while McIlroy got to three under with six to play only to fade to a 72 that left him nine shots behind leader Daniel Berger.
Lowry had to wait until the 17th to make a putt outside four feet, but he followed that 15-footer for a birdie two with a bogey at the last.
McIlroy made four birdies and a bogey in his first 12 holes, but a double bogey six at the 13th, where he shoved a short iron into the water and then overshot the green with his fourth, proved a blow.
He dropped another shot at the 208-yard 14th, missing a five-footer after bunkering his tee shot before following a birdie at the par-five 16th with a bogey at the 18th, where he was bunkered left of the green.
Berger’s new left-below-right putting grip worked a treat as he made nine birdies in a bogey-free 63 to lead by three shots from Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg.
“Listen, it's going to be an incredibly difficult and challenging week,” Berger said after coming home in six-under 30. “You can already see the course is -- the greens are like white.
“So a little bit of wind, a little bit less moisture, and it's just going to be like a US Open.”
That will suit world number one Scottie Scheffler, whose run of mediocre opening rounds ended when he opened with a two-under 70 that left him joint 18th.
McIlroy was tied for 33rd while Lowry was joint 52nd in the 72-man field,
At the opposite field Puerto Rico Open, Séamus Power signed for a disappointing three-over 75 that left him eight shots behind Chandler Blanchet in Rio Grande.
As Blanchet shot an eight-under 64 to lead by a shot from 2022 NCAA Championship winner Gordon Sargent (22), Power’s scrambling powers failed him and he dropped five strokes in a five-hole stretch from the sixth before mixing four birdies with two bogeys coming home.
Power was tied for 99th, three strokes outside the projected cut mark.
