Shane Lowry had just hit his tee shot on the final hole at Le Golf National when the hooter sounded, halting play as conditions worsened and inclement weather rolled across Paris.
The ball found the fairway bunker and after a near-hour-long delay, he was forced to layup short of the water and with the pin tucked at the back and more water lurking long, a conservative approach and two putts saw him sign for a closing bogey and a level-par round that leaves him eight shots back and in need of a low round on Friday.
Like McIlroy, who earlier classed his round as “some good, some not so good,” Lowry struggled a little off the tee, hitting nine of 14 fairways, and bookending his day with bogeys that were largely the result of right-misses off the tee, but there was plenty to be encouraged about in between, most notably his approach play.
The Offaly man’s iron game has been his most potent weapon in 2024 and was so again, ranking sixth in Strokes-Gained-Approach, but his putter, so often his Achilles’ Heel, ran a little cold once again and he ranked 50th in Strokes-Gained-Putting.
Prior to the shifting conditions, however, he’d recovered from that early bogey and posted birdies on three, five and 14 to move to -2. But the shifting weather conditions made the already tough closing stretch that little bit tougher and bogeys at 15 – caused by another right miss off the tee that found the hazards – and the aforementioned 18 meant a disappointing overall score.
There were no such worries for Hideki Matsuyama who was at his brilliant best as he carded a bogey-free 63 to post -8 and enjoy a two-stroke lead over world number two Xander Schauffele.
The 2021 Masters winner’s renowned ball-striking prowess is an ideal fit for a course like Le Golf National and it was no surprise to see him giving himself birdie chance after birdie chance by hitting 16 of the 18 greens in regulatoin, but, like Lowry, his putting has often been the issue. Not so on day one, however, as he picked up more than three strokes on the field with the flatstick and if that sort of form continues, it’s a big reach for any of the chasing pack to reel him in.
“Today’s result was good,” Matsuyama said afterwards. “So I’ll take that as a positive. My putts went in the cup well today. My shots went into the fairway, too. So I had a lot of chances, so I’m happy.”
Reigning Olympic champion Schauffele looked set to join Matsuyama on -8 after going bogey-free and carding seven birdies in his opening 14 holes. A pulled tee shot on 17 and a missed six-footer saw him drop back to -6, but with his confidence sky-high after nabbing two majors in his last three attempts, he is the most obvious danger man to the Japanese.
The trio of Joaquin Niemann of Chile, Tom Kim of Korea and Argentine Emiliano Grillo are tied for third at -5, with world number one Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm among the nine-strong contingent lying tied for fifth at -4.
But for a three-putt on the last, Rory McIlroy would’ve made it 10, but the resulting bogey saw him slip to -5 and ends the day tied for 15th.
Leave a comment