Rory McIlroy feels there were plenty of positives to take from his first-round display at the Irish Open. The tournament host,

Posted in IYH Forums by jokergreen0220 at 00:08, Feb 20 2020

Rory McIlroy feels there were plenty of positives to take from his first-round display at the Irish Open. The tournament host, who has missed the cut three years running in the event, briefly held a share of the lead on his way to an opening-round 67 at the K Club.McIlroy, who has never finished higher than seventh in nine appearances in his home Open, reached the turn in 32 and picked up further birdies at the 10th and 13th before carding his only dropped shot of the day with a three-putt bogey at the next. Three pars were followed by a final-hole birdie to hand the Northern Irishman outright second, two strokes behind early pace-setter Danny Willett. McIlroy mixed six birdies with one bogey during the opening day I thought I played very well, I gave myself plenty of chances, McIlroy told Sky Sports. Obviously it looks like we got the better of the conditions out there, but it was still tricky with the wind getting up.I feel like you still had to go out there and play the shots and I holed a few putts, which was nice to see. I had a little bit of a blip on 14, but apart from that obviously really happy with how I played today. This is still my third week in a row but I feel nice and fresh and coming off a three-week break after Augusta has definitely helped as well.I managed myself around the golf course well and five under was a good reflection of how I played.Masters champion Willett missed the cut by a shot in the Players Championship last week in his first event since Augusta but was in much better form here.He said: It was nice coming off a pretty poor week last week, getting here Monday, and trying to get some work done with my coach, and getting everything sorted out.This is the first time I have played this golf course and its just fantastic, every holes different. Theres a few really challenging holes, a few good, fun holes.It was a good day. Played some really good golf with some birdies to start with and then started getting hot with the putter.A 65 was far beyond my expectations for today, especially after waking up and looking out the window when it was miserable and raining.Watch the Irish Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live second round coverage begins on Friday from 9.30am. Also See: Willett sets Irish pace Latest leaderboard WATCH: The next McIlroy? Golf live on Sky Sports 4 Wholesale Custom Chiefs Shirts . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Dave Krieg Jersey .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-jan-stenerud-jersey-large-646n.html . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Carlos Carson Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Armani Watts Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. World No. 1 Jason Days place in the lucrative season-ending Tour Championship is in doubt after he withdrew with a back injury from the BMW Championship won by Dustin Johnson.Day tweaked his lower back when he bent down to put a tee in the ground on the ninth hole and decided to pull out of the event rather than risk further damage.Already well back off the lead, he now has a serious challenger for his place at the top of the world rankings as world No.2 Johnson powered home to win at Crooked Stick Golf Club by three shots.Johnson shot a final round five-under 67 to surge to 23 under for the tournament, winning for the third time this year to go with his US Open and WGC Bridgestone Invitational triumph.Englands Paul Casey finished runner-up for the second week running, closing with a 67 of his own to be 20 under, with American Roberto Castro (67) playing his way into the season finale by finishing third at 17 under.The results puts the American closer to Day in the world rankings ahead of the season ending Tour Championship, and sends him to the top of the season long FedExCup points list.Defending event champion Day has a history of back issues, withdrawing from the BMW Championship in 2014 with a similar complaint.He also battled a bad back at the 2015 Barclays and 2016 World Golf Championships Match Play with the same issue before fighting through the pain and winning.His place in Atlanta in two weeks is now in doubt where the winner of the season long FedExCup will claim a $US10million bonus.Hes all right, hes just got some back iissues and is in a little bit of pain.dddddddddddd Hes getting treatment right now. I dont think its anything that he hasnt dealt with before, Days manager Bud Martin said.The trainer is maybe thinking its the same type of thing that he dealt with I think at the Barclays and last year where he picked something up in his bus and it kind of got out of line.But just better safe than sorry. Instead of forcing it, we just decided that it was more prudent to kind of come in, get it worked on, and deal with it.Day dropped from second to fourth in the FedExCup standings which is of minimal consequence as those in the top five can guarantee the FedExCup with a win in the TOUR Championship.Well probably get a MRI just to double check. My gut is that hell be fine, Martin said.Hopefully, hell be ready for Atlanta, but the most important thing is the next 15 years, not the next 15 days.Meanwhile Adam Scott finished fourth for the third straight playoff event.A final round 71 left him 12 under, 11 shots off the win. He is now third in the season-long points list, giving him a chance to win it all in two weeks time.Hopefully Im saving my best for last, that would be a great way to finish the year, Scott said.And starting in third, that would mean I would win the FedExCup. So thats an exciting spot for me to be in and hopefully I can take advantage of it.Marc Leishman (-1) and Aaron Baddeley (+4) have ended their seasons. ' ' '