Rory McIlroy admits he has developed the skillset to handle tricky conditions and is enjoying the challenge after he shared second place after the opening day of the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy made a rapid start with two birdies in his first three holes in the pouring rain at Riviera which eventually forced a three-hour suspension of play. He returned to birdie the hole he hates the most on the course, the long par-3 4th and added another on the 8th.
A routine birdie on the par-5 11th saw him take the outright lead before a missed green on the par-3 16th cost him a bogey which he recovered from with a birdie on 17 to card a 66 and lie just one shot shy of Aaron Rai who played 16 holes of his first round.
“I’ve definitely got more comfortable playing in conditions like this over the past few years as I’ve gotten more comfortable in controlling my ball flight, and controlling my ball flight taking a lot more club, hitting the ball low,” said McIlroy who hit 13 of 18 greens overall.
“Yeah, and I’ve started to just really enjoy this style of golf. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn’t enjoy these conditions, but it’s been a shift in a mindset and maybe just a continuation of trying to build upon the skill set that I have. Then when it does get to conditions like this, I’m a lot more prepared. I wouldn’t say I enjoy them, but I can certainly handle them better.”
McIlroy is yet to win this event and has labelled Riviera as one of the courses he wants to clinch a trophy on at some stage in his career. The Masters champion feels his experience playing in wind and rain gives him an edge on most of the field compared to when he first appeared on tour.
“I think so. And also maybe just my experience a little bit as well. As I said, I haven’t always enjoyed these conditions. I haven’t always — honestly, I haven’t always had the skill set to excel in them. To start to enjoy them and have the shots to succeed on days like this, that’s a really satisfying thing to be able to be, you know, nearly 20 years into a career and still feel like you’re getting better at some aspects of the game.”
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry is two-over-par after a 73 as he shares 54th place but the other big story of the day was another slow start for world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler only competed ten holes of his opening round but he will want to forget them very quickly after he ended the day in darkness and on a staggering five-over which left him in joint last position with Keegan Bradley.
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