It was a disappointing day all round for the Irish contingent at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday, with Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Seamus Power and Padraig Harrington all battling to make the cut.
Eager to build form ahead of The Masters at Augusta in just a few weeks time, McIlroy had a disappointing Bogey to start his day before picking up a Birdie on the fourth.
But his round unravelled on the next hole as the Holywood star hit his tee shot into the water on the long Par-5 sixth. After going three from the tee, McIlroy had to settle for Double-Bogey.
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A Birdie at 12 got him back to one-over, but a disappointing Bogey two holes later summed up his frustrating round. The four-time major winner made Birdie on 16 before Parring the final two holes to finish one-over-par for the day in a tie for 69th.
It was an equally frustrating day for Shane Lowry who shot 72 in his opening round. After a good weekend at the Honda Classic where Lowry picked up a cheque of €273,000 for finishing in fifth place, the Offaly man plotted his way around the course before finishing his day in a tie for 50th on level Par.
It was a tough end to the day for Lowry who, having started on the back nine, had back-to-back Birdies on the 3rd and 4th hole to move to -2, but a pair of sloppy Bogeys on 7 and 9 stopped his momentum and put him back to level par.
Neither Seamus Power nor Padraig Harrington could get much going in their rounds, with the two Irishmen finishing Thursday on level par and one-over respectively.
At the other end of the leaderboard, American Scottie Scheffler made a good start to his defence of the tournament that he won twelve months ago. He carded a four-under-par round and is three shots off the lead of Jon Rahm who continued his electric form on Thursday.
If the Irish stars make it through to the weekend, they will be playing for a mammoth prize fund. The tournament has been classified as one of the PGA Tour's 'elevated' events, and the winner will take home a huge cheque of $3.6 million.
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