Rory McIlroy Takes Cue from Tiger Woods’ Success
Rory McIlroy was pleased enough with his round one play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, that he said he might take the rest of the day off and go to Disney World instead of standing in the warm sun and hitting practice balls into gusty winds. After shooting a first-round 66, he was perhaps entitled to a little break.
Rather than crediting nearby Disney magic for his score, Rory McIlroy pointed to improved play with his driver.
"“I didn’t think it was quite up to par over the first three tournaments of the year,” he said to media after his round. “I think I only missed one or two fairways today, and if you can do that around this place, especially with how juicy the rough is, you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances.”"
He also saved a few disasters, for example, on the 11th, his second hole of the day, where his second shot found the water left of the green. He said the bogey putt there was key to the day.
"“It started giving me a little bit of momentum. Obviously, it was an unforced error with the second shot,” he explained."
He said he was trying to get an 8-iron over the water and onto the green, but it came up short.
"“I could have nearly played it. It was sort of, the ball was half in, half out, try to sort of do a Bill Haas spectacular whatever, but I decided against it,” he admitted."
However, while his start to the day was not the best, he liked the way he finished the front nine.
"“Turning in under par, birdieing 16, birdieing 18, sort of had a bit of a good pep in my step going into the first tee,” he added. “The two shots I hit into 16, the shot I hit into 17, and the two shots I hit into 18 gave me a lot of confidence going into the front side.”"
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That’s when the fireworks started. McIlroy birdied the first hole and, then, at the fourth, made eagle from a fairway bunker.
"“Harry (McIlroy’s caddie) said that’s the best shot I’ve hit all year,” McIlroy noted about his sand shot at four."
He had 260 to the pin and said he was in between a 3-iron and a 5-wood with a back pin. The 5-wood, he thought, would leave him over the green, chipping downhill to the pin, which is a shot he did not want.
"“So, I said to Harry, If I can catch this 3-iron good and maybe pitch 10 or 15 short, maybe trundle up the hill. But short was always better than long. And it just came out perfectly and got up to pin high,” he explained."
He added two more birdies, at the 6th and 8th, and finished the round in 6-under par.
After having played the Arnold Palmer Invitational for a few years now, McIlroy said he is following the strategy set by Tiger Woods who has eight victories at the tournament.
"“If you can play the par-5s well, you can play the rest of the course pretty conservatively and pick your spots,” he said. “That’s what — Tiger’s won here seven or eight times, whatever it is — he killed the par-5s. He then could pick and choose where he was going to be aggressive. And just sort of trying to follow that plan because it worked pretty well for him.”"
McIlroy Remaining Focused on Game Improvement Program. dark. Next
And now, Rory McIlroy may be on to the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon.