Rory

McIlroy

McIlroy was the man to beat heading into Sunday and that was still true for one-third of his round. From there, he found water four times on his way into the clubhouse, playing the final 12 holes at 4-over to drop well out of contention. McIlroy ended five shots off the winning tally of Vincent Norrman. On a positive note, his back troubles appeared to be a thing of the past as he was right in the hunt through 60 holes this week and will now turn his attention toward Wentworth Club for one final tune-up ahead of the Ryder Cup.

The Ulsterman tweaked his back ahead of the TOUR Championship but fought through the injury to manage a fourth-place finish, with the help of his starting strokes. What has he been doing since Atlanta? “Went to see the physio a couple times. I hit balls once on Saturday before we left, and we flew and we spent a couple days in London before we came here.” McIlroy has managed his fatigue with a light practice schedule in the last month and is starting to feel better, “I would say it’s at 90 percent, 95 percent. It’s not a hundred percent better.” McIlroy is sitting around +300 to +350 in the outright betting market to start the event, so there is no discount available despite the back concerns.

Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported that McIlroy injured a muscle in his lower back on Tuesday and didn’t take any practice swings until Thursday morning. The Ulsterman was shown grimacing on the range this afternoon but still giving it a go. He will start the week in third place, with seven starting strokes to his credit.

McIlroy finished dead last in driving accuracy today (3-of-14 fairways) but still managed five birdies without dropping a single shot along the way. “With the golf course being so soft, it’s almost an advantage to be playing out of the rough going into some of these greens because you know the ball is not going to spin. I’m not saying I was trying to aim for the rough, but I was, I think, a lot of the tee shots I was just being super aggressive.” McIlroy was 4.7 shots better than the field average today and 3.7 of those strokes were gained with his short game. McIlroy entered this season with three FedExCup trophies already to his name (most of any golfer) and could be on his way toward adding a fourth to his resume.

The Champion Golfer of the Year arrived at ninth in the FedExCup race. It’s only one (of four) rounds but he’s on pace to improve his standing in the season-long competition. Harman split just 7-of-14 fairways but gained 2.4 strokes on approach (5th) while gaining 3.4 strokes with his short game (+1.6 around-the-green, +1.8 putting). Highlights included a pair of chip-ins. ""I didn’t do much work in between the Open and Memphis. I was pretty rusty last week. Knew I was probably going to struggle. Just tried to manage my expectations, but I hit some good shots last week. Still felt like the nuts and bolts of it were still there.” He’s currently tied in the clubhouse alongside Rory McIlroy. If the co-lead holds then it would be his third time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA Tour (WIN/2014 John Deere Classic; T41/2014 McGladrey Classic).

It was an up-and-down season for McIlroy who won his first start (CJ CUP) and second-to-last start (Scottish Open) but had some springtime troubles with a MC-MC-T47 stretch starting at The Players. While his late-season results have been stellar, he did make a notable equipment change ahead of the playoffs. He put a new putter in the bag this week, “I just wanted a different look, just wanted to freshen it up. I’ve got my Spider with me this week if that putter isn’t doing what I want it to do over the first couple days. I may go back. I just wanted to freshen it up.”

McIlroy slept on a 54-hole lead but Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre made a Sunday charge, firing a 6-under 64 to set the early clubhouse lead. McIlroy came up clutched with a bogey-free, 4-under on the homeward nine including back-to-back birdies to end the week and avoid a playoff by just one shot. The Ulsterman is now 11-for-19 in converting 54-hole leads on the PGA Tour and next up is an appearance at Royal Liverpool, site of his 2014 Open Championship victory.

McIlroy settled for second last week at the U.S. Open but was a bit sloppy today. He swallowed five bogeys but did offset that with five birdies and his first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR. “I had one in Abu Dhabi, I’ve had one here. They’re the only two I’ve had in competition as a pro. I’ve had a ton in practice and casual rounds."McIlroy lost more than a stroke off-the-tee today which is incredibly rare for him. He finds himself in a share of 46th place after round one with plenty of room for improvement if his driver returns to his normal standards.

McIlroy pelted 15 GIR today and led the field in that category for the week. His striking was solid on Sunday but the putter never warmed up. McIlroy lost strokes putting on 12 holes (-1.98 SG:Putting for the round). “I played the way I wanted to play. There was just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round that I’d like to have back.” The drought continues for McIlroy who quickly won four majors early in his career but has been stuck on that fourth since the 2014 PGA Championship. What’s next for McIlroy? “I’ll play Travelers next week, I’ll play the Scottish Open, but I’m focused on making sure that I’m ready to go for Liverpool.”

The big hitter stormed out of the gate with back-to-back birdies and three more circles before making the turn. He settled for an even-par homeward nine (still 1.23 shots better than the field). The Ulsterman gained more than two strokes off-the-tee, more than two strokes on approach, and more than two strokes putting. McIlroy’s critics have been concerned about him not closing events lately but he has now been T12 or better after 10 of his last 13 rounds played. McIlroy remains on the hunt for his first win at a major title since the 2014 PGA Championship. He remains stuck on those four major wins which came in his first 25 tries. He is now 4-for-57 in terms of winning majors.