Rory falls for old 1-2 from off the green

Golf

Rory McIlroy got off to an impressive start in the first round of the Irish Open in Limerick

Friday, May 16, 2008

By Peter Hutcheon

He may be wise beyond his years but there are still a few tricks a wily old pro could teach Rory McIlroy.

With his ball lying in the fringe grass just through the penultimate green the Holywood teenager, who has just turned 19, took out his putter instead of a wedge and watched in disbelief as the ball hopped straight up in the air and finished some five feet from the hole.

He missed the putt then let out a sigh of anguish at the dropped shot as he draped the offending club over his shoulders.

If fairness to him, it was a horribly fluffy lie and, just 15 feet from the pin, there's many a player in the same circumstances who would have done exactly the same thing.

"It was one of those lies with a chip shot that, if you get a lot of grass stuck between the ball and the clubface, it could go nowhere or shoot over the green," he explained later.

"So I decided to putt it and it was sitting in a little indentation and it just hopped out. It was a bad second putt too."

Still, at two under just four off the pace overnight, he's very much in contention in his first Irish Open as a professional and if the opportunity presents itself for him to win on Sunday, he won't be shy about taking it.

"I really didn't do too much wrong today and I hit it really nicely," he said.

"You got to hit it well around here to give yourself opportunities and that's what I did.

"It's a solid start and hopefully I can build on it for the next three days."

The length of the course £ all 7,453 yards of it £ was not a problem for McIlroy as his performance on the treacherous par five finishing hole showed.

He smacked his drive 240 yards, then his approach over the water 215 yards to set up an eagle putt.

"I've been hitting it pretty long all year and I'm confident so I can step up to the tee boxes and hit it a little bit harder if I want to," said McIlroy.

Jeev Milkha Singh holed a monster par putt on the closing green to finish level with Australian Richard Green on six under, a lead of two over the field at the end of the first day.

An afternoon of great promise failed to yield much for Darren Clarke.

He was one under after four holes after a birdie two but, although he remained level through the turn, he dropped back to level par with a bogey four on the 11th.

He dropped another shot on the 17th when he failed to get a three wood out of the rough but reached the 18th in two for a birdie four to finish with a level par 72.

Michael Hoey is struggling to shake off a cold but birdied the last to end the day two over.

"I'm still in good shape to make the cut and I putted well but struggled off the tees a little," the Belfast man said.

Dubliner Peter Lawrie birdied four of the last six holes, just as he did in the final round of his win in Spain last month, to finish on one under.

And Belfast's Damian Mooney birdied two of his last seven holes for a three over 75 yesterday.