World No. 1 in men’s golf, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) lost face on the PGA Tour, where he participated for the first time this year.
McIlroy shot a 2-over par 73 in the first round of the PGA Tour WM Phoenix Open (total prize money of 20 million dollars) held at TPC Scottsdale (par 071) in Scottsdale, Arizona on the 10th (Korean time).
He shot a 5-under-par 66 and was pushed to 82nd, 7 strokes behind Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwon (above Canada), who tied for the lead, and had to worry about passing the cut. The first round was caught in the sunset, so many players could not finish the round. 먹튀검증
At the official press conference ahead of the opening ceremony, McIlroy showed strong confidence, saying, “Yes,” without hesitation, to the question, “Do you think you are the best player in the world right now?” “The best performance in my golf career.” However, his performance on this day was disappointing, the exact opposite of what he said.
This event marks McIlroy’s all-PGA Tour debut. Perhaps because of that pressure, McIlroy’s shot swayed a lot that day. His driver shots, which averaged 330 yards, held the fairway only four times. Iron missed the green eight times. In addition, the number of putts was not good at 1.8 when it was put on the green after only regular at-bats.
After the game, McIlroy said, “The wind that came from a 90-degree angle throughout the game slightly changed direction. He thought he had hit the perfect shot, but he tossed it over the green 20 yards. He explained the reason for the sluggishness, saying, “I was fooled all day by the wind.
Among Korean players, Lim Seong-jae (25, CJ Logistics), who hit 1-under 70, was tied for 19th, the highest ranking. Im Seong-jae, who played all 18 holes, became the driving force behind the success with an eagle on the 15th hole (par 5) and consecutive birdies on the 16th (par 3) and 17th holes (par 4). It was regrettable that he committed a bogey on the last 18th hole (par 4).
Kim Joo-hyung (21) finished the 12th hole and hit even par by exchanging two bogeys and two birdies. Kim Si-woo (28), who started the game on the 10th hole, was even par through 10 holes until the 1st hole. Lee Gyeong-hoon (32, CJ Logistics), who has the best record ever for a Korean with a tie for second place in the 2021 competition, was sluggish with a 2-over par 73 strokes.
World No. 2 and No. 3 Scotty Scheffler (USA) and Jon Rahm (Spain), who are competing fiercely for the world No. 1 spot with McIlroy, performed side by side. Defending champion Schaeffler cut one stroke down to the 11th hole, and Rahm cut three strokes down to the 13th hole.