Rory McIlroy Makes Nightmare Start At The Open

The Northern Irishman made the worst start imaginable at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy Makes Nightmare Start At The Open

A lot is expected of Rory McIlroy as The Open Championship descends on Royal Portrush for the first time in 68 years. After all, he is in good form this year and he just so happens to have the course record of 61 around the Dunluce Links which he shot when he was just 16.

As a result there was huge pressure on the Northern Irishman to perform and yet it appeared the nerves got the better of him on the first hole during the first round.

The crowd cheered exuberantly as his name was announced and he set about his pre-shot routine. McIlroy then proceeded to hit his tee shot, with an iron, out of bounds to the left of the first fairway. His second attempt looked nervy too as he pulled it left again into the rough. As Rory was cracking under the pressure, his first shot reportedly cracked a women's phone screen as well.

Then, he yanked what was his fourth shot into more deep rough to the left of the first green. From there he took an unplayable lie, chipped on and missed the putt to start with a quadruple-bogey eight. He then went on to bogey the 3rd after going long with his tee shot. As far as starts go it doesn't get any worse than that.

However, looking at it from a positive mindset, Rory would much rather have that kind of meltdown early rather than the 18th. He now has plenty of holes the rest of the day to get it all back. Again, as the course record holder if there is one player capable of bringing it back, it is Rory.

Additionally, due to the unpredictable nature of The Open Championship, there is no way of knowing what the leading score will be at the end of the day so if he can find a way back to level par, he might not be in bad shape.

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