World No.3 Rory McIlroy admitted he was ‘a little groggy’ after having some wine the night before shooting an opening round 66 on Thursday at the RBC Canadian Open.
McIlroy was celebrating caddie Harry Diamond’s birthday on Wednesday, with the Northern Irishman admitting to journalist Adam Schupak he did not feel 100% ahead of his Thursday morning round.
Rory said he was a little groggy this morning after having a couple glasses of wine celebrating caddie Harry Diamond’s birthday last night. No birdies on the front but rallied for a 66. Solid start in his bid for a 3rd @RBCCanadianOpen title.May 30, 2024
Beginning his round on the 10th, McIlroy failed to register a birdie on his opening nine before rallying with birdies at the 1st, 5th, 7th and 8th to come home in a 4 under-par 31 and finish the day in a tie for 6th place.
Champion of this event in both 2019 and 2022, McIlroy told reporters after his round he played the back nine ‘blind’, admitting he was happy to shoot a bogey-free even-par during that stretch given his lack of preparation.
“I played the back nine blind. I hadn't seen the back nine, and I only played the front nine in the pro-am. So I was happy enough to get out of there in even par and not make a bogey.
“Once I got that nine holes out of the way I knew there were some chances on that front side and played probably much better on that front side. Four birdies there and no bogeys was a good day's work.
“I felt like I got some good putting practice on the front side there just trying to save par the whole time, getting a lot of practice on my 6-footers. It was good. I missed a couple, too, I had that 3-putt on the par-5, the 4th hole. Apart from that felt like I putted really, really nice. So, again, hopefully I can keep that going the next few days.”
McIlroy shared his satisfaction at carding a bogey-free opening round, something he admitted he struggled to do in the early stages of this PGA Tour season.
“Yeah, it's been nice to look at a clean scorecard. Thankfully, it's something that I'm starting to do again.
“The start of the year or at least through like February, March, April, I was making some big numbers and there was a lot of volatility on the scorecard, but to play bogey-free rounds is really nice again.”
2024 has proved a turbulent year for McIlroy so far, who announced his divorce from wife Erica on the Monday of the PGA Championship alongside reports of disagreements and high-profile resignations throughout the PGA Tour and PIF merger negotiations. For now, he is happy to focus on golf ahead of a busy four-week schedule that includes the US Open at Pinehurst No.2 in two weeks’ time.
“I think when all of us are able to focus purely on the golf again that would be welcomed by everyone. But, yeah, I've played a lot of golf this year.
“I was on a four-week stretch sort of through Augusta and then I had two weeks Quail Hollow and PGA and now I'm on another four-week stretch. So, yeah, I've played a lot, but it's been good. It's been, I've started to play my way into form and I've played well the last few weeks and hopefully I can just keep that going.”
McIlroy begins his second round at 12:55pm local time alongside Canadians Nick Taylor and recent CJ Cup Byron Nelson champion Taylor Pendrith on Friday.
