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Irish Independent
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Rory McIlroy smiling again after stunning 64 at Travelers Championship – but Scottie Scheffler is the man to catch
As Austin Eckroat shot 62 to set the pace at TPC River Highlands, the world number two made 108 feet of putts to share second in the clubhouse with US Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley and Wydham Clark, who apologised for smashing lockers at Oakmont. 'It was good,' McIlroy said. 'I said yesterday, this is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of it's a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn't quite as severe. 'You can give yourself plenty of chances for birdies, which Keegan and I did today. 'Overall, it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you're in a two-ball like that we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, too, that's nice, as well.' 'I've had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,' said the former US Open champion, who missed the cut by a shot last week. 'I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I'm very sorry for what happened. 'But I'd also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up. I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team.' Scottie Scheffler fired an eagle and seven birdies in an eight-under 62 to grab a share of the lead as he chases his fourth win in his last six starts. The world number one leapfrogged Rory McIlroy at the top of the FedEx Cup standings thanks to wins in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the US PGA, and the Memorial Tournament. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more He was also joint seventh in last week's US Open without playing his best golf and insists he drew confidence from his performance at Oakmont. 'The way I swung it the first couple rounds was pretty poor,' Scheffler said of the US Open following an impressive opening round at TPC River Highlands. 'I mean, I was not getting the ball in play. I don't know if you saw much of it, but it wasn't very pretty. 'But I was very proud of the way I stayed in the tournament, and I still gave myself a chance to win. 'That gives me a lot of confidence going forward that I could - especially on a golf course like Oakmont where you know you have to get the ball in play – and I wasn't able to do that in the beginning of the tournament. 'And to hang in there, flirt with the cut line on Friday, have a good finish to my round Friday, kind of bounce back, get myself back in the tournament to give myself an opportunity to win was I felt like pretty good. I gained some confidence from that. 'It's also just good reflection knowing that it's really important for me just to stay in it mentally, and I felt like last week was, oddly enough, as good as I've been mentally on the course throughout the season.' It was also a good day for Leona Maguire, who was just four shots off the lead after opening with a battling level par 72 in the KPMG Women's PGA in Texas. The Co Cavan star, who arrived at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco struggling for form on the back of four successive missed cuts, made two birdies and two bogeys in a solid round as Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul shot 68 to head Australia's Minjee Lee by one stroke. On the HotelPlanner Tour, Max Kennedy (23) planned a dip in the sea to cool off after scorching to a 10-under-par course record 60 to grab the lead in the Blot Play9 Golf in Brittany. The Royal Dublin rookie (23) made six birdies and two eagles in a career-low round at Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André to lead by four strokes from England's James Morrison. 'Yeah, very happy,' said 72nd-ranked Kennedy, who can take a massive leap this week in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards. 'Obviously, a very nice round. I didn't miss a whole lot of shots, and it was even nicer to save a good par on the last. 'It would have been nice to give myself a chance on the last for a 59, but still, I'll take a 60.' While Kilkenny's Mark Power was joint fourth after a 66, Ballymena's Dermot McElroy followed an eagle two at his first hole with a quintuple bogey 10 at the next, the 11th, en route to an 84. Meanwhile, County Louth's Gavin Tiernan (19) used all his links experience to battle his way into the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George's. But while he beat Belgium's Jarno Tollenaire by two holes before seeing off France's Gaspar Glaudas 3&2 to take his place in the last eight, he's not dreaming of the Masters place awarded to the champion just yet. 'No, I'm just taking it hole by hole, one shot at a time,' said the East Tennessee State University star, who will face Estonia's Richard Teder in the quarter-finals. 'That's been my motto this week, just one shot at a time.'
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Rory McIlroy smiling again after stunning 64 at Travelers Championship
As Austin Eckroat shot 62 to set the pace at TPC River Highlands, the world number two made 108 feet of putts to share second in the clubhouse with US Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley and Wydham Clark, who apologised for smashing lockers at Oakmont. 'It was good,' McIlroy said. 'I said yesterday, this is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of it's a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn't quite as severe. 'You can give yourself plenty of chances for birdies, which Keegan and I did today. 'Overall, it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you're in a two-ball like that we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, too, that's nice, as well.' 'I've had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,' said the former US Open champion, who missed the cut by a shot last week. 'I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I'm very sorry for what happened. 'But I'd also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up. I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team.' It was also a good day for Leona Maguire, who was just four shots off the lead after opening with a battling level par 72 in the KPMG Women's PGA in Texas. The Co Cavan star, who arrived at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco struggling for form on the back of four successive missed cuts, made two birdies and two bogeys in a solid round as Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul shot 68 to head Australia's Minjee Lee by one stroke. ADVERTISEMENT On the HotelPlanner Tour, Max Kennedy (23) planned a dip in the sea to cool off after scorching to a 10-under-par course record 60 to grab the lead in the Blot Play9 Golf in Brittany. The Royal Dublin rookie (23) made six birdies and two eagles in a career-low round at Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André to lead by four strokes from England's James Morrison. 'Yeah, very happy,' said 72nd-ranked Kennedy, who can take a massive leap this week in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards. 'Obviously, a very nice round. I didn't miss a whole lot of shots, and it was even nicer to save a good par on the last. 'It would have been nice to give myself a chance on the last for a 59, but still, I'll take a 60.' While Kilkenny's Mark Power was joint fourth after a 66, Ballymena's Dermot McElroy followed an eagle two at his first hole with a quintuple bogey 10 at the next, the 11th, en route to an 84. Meanwhile, County Louth's Gavin Tiernan (19) used all his links experience to battle his way into the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George's. But while he beat Belgium's Jarno Tollenaire by two holes before seeing off France's Gaspar Glaudas 3&2 to take his place in the last eight, he's not dreaming of the Masters place awarded to the champion just yet. 'No, I'm just taking it hole by hole, one shot at a time,' said the East Tennessee State University star, who will face Estonia's Richard Teder in the quarter-finals. 'That's been my motto this week, just one shot at a time.'
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Rory McIlroy shines with six birdies at Travelers Championship while Jordan Spieth battles through visible injury
RORY MCILROY maintained his resurgence after his low final round-of-the-day at last week's US Open. The Northern Irishman carded a flawless opening round of six-under-par 64 at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. Advertisement 2 Rory McIlroy carded a six under par round of 67 at TPC River Highlands 2 Jordan Spieth was visibly injured during his round but attempted to battle on Fresh off a final-round 67 at the US Open, McIlroy carried that momentum into the low-scoring TPC River Highlands track. The Masters champions carded six birdies to sit tied-second midway through Day 1. He is two shots behind early leader Aaron Eckroat, who carded a stunning - career best - round of 65 to hold the clubhouse lead. McIlroy was joined in the clubhouse at six-under by his US Ryder Cup captain playing partner Keegan Bradley, and 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark. Advertisement read more on golf Cameron Young sits one back on five-under, while a packed group at four-under includes Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, and Jason Day. Jordan Spieth pulled up during his round with an injury, the three-time major winner clearly in discomfort after the 6th hole of his opening round. He followed up on the 7th - but wailed in pain after his tee shot - as he attempts to solider on as he remains on course at time of publish. Many of the afternoon starters have just teed off on the east coast of the United States with the tee times later than usual for the final Signature event of the season. Advertisement Most read in Golf The Travelers purse is $20 million, with $3.6 million going to the winner in addition to 700 FedEx Cup points. There is no cut at the Travelers Championship. All 72 players will play all four rounds. All the action is live on Sky Sports Golf.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Rory McIlroy tied-second after bogey free start at Travelers Championship
Rory McIlroy continued his return to form with a blemish-free six-under 64 in the opening round of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. McIlroy, who concluded his US Open with a closing 67 to sneak inside the top-20 at Oakmont, recorded six birdies with no dropped strokes at the somewhat more forgiving TPC River Highlands to lie tied-second, two shots adrift of leader Aaron Eckroat midway through Day 1. The Masters champion drained an early six-footer for birdie at the second, adding further birdies before the turn at the par-5 sixth and the short eighth hole after hitting his tee-shot to 3ft. On the back nine, more birdies followed at the par-5 13th and the short par-4 15th after almost driving the green and two-putting. He reached six-under at the penultimate hole, sinking a 28ft birdie putt. He's joined in the clubhouse at six-under by playing partner and US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, and 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark. Cameron Young is one stroke further back on five-under, while there is a large cluster of players in the clubhouse on four-under, including Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Jason Day. Shane Lowry is even par after six holes of his opening round. The 2019 Open champion opened with a bogey before sinking a 19-footer for birdie on the third. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, has made an ominously strong start to his opening round with three birdies in his opening four holes to get to three-under.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Oliver Brown: The evidence is undeniable – Rory McIlroy has morphed into golf's new diva-in-chief
Daily Telegraph The joy of Rory McIlroy is that he is unlike so many of the charmless androids populating professional golf, that he treats his craft with a passion and a sincerity impossible to fake. Where US Ryder Cup players strong-arm the PGA of America into paying them £370,000 each for deigning to turn up, he believes so fervently in the European cause that he ends up in tears. And where several of his former team-mates exclude themselves from future captaincy by accepting the Saudi bounty at LIV, he holds firm as the game's moral conscience, reminding his peers that money need not be their lodestar. In a sport that can seem awash with greed and entitlement, he so often brings a reminder of its soul.
