World No 3 bounces back from early mistake to get within three of the early lead in New Jersey
Thursday 8 August 2019 22:08, UK
Rory McIlroy vowed to continue his aggressive approach to tackling Liberty National after he opened The Northern Trust with a high-quality six-under 65.
McIlroy bounced back from a bogey at his first hole to card an eagle and five birdies in ideal scoring conditions in New Jersey, although he remained three strokes adrift of early leader Troy Merritt.
The 30-year-old was outplayed by Brooks Koepka in the final round of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational a fortnight ago, but he got the better of his playing partner on the first day of the FedExCup Play-Offs as the world No 1 mixed three birdies with two bogeys in a disappointing 70.
McIlroy under-hit his approach to the 10th and would go on to miss a six-foot putt for par, but he atoned at the 12th before drilling a bold second to 15 feet at the long 13th and nailing the putt for eagle before he drove the green at 16 to set-up a two-putt birdie.
He was on target from just outside 20 feet at the first before converting another chance at the second and, after his fifth birdie of the round at the sixth, McIlroy parred home to stay in good shape at six under par.
"I didn't get off to a great start this morning and bogeyed my first hole, but I played really well after that," said world No 3 McIlroy, who is bidding for his third victory of the year. "I saw some better iron shots than I did in Memphis, and I drove it just as good and putted nicely.
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"It's so soft out there, so you need to shoot low scores this week to have a chance. Obviously, I'm still three shots behind the lead at this point and there are some pretty good players that have shot good scores, so just going to try to have to keep the foot down.
"There's not much rough out there, so it's sort of 'bombs away' with the driver and try to get it up as far as you can and go from there. It's definitely a golf course that you're going to have to keep being aggressive this week
"The par-fives are all reachable, and there are a couple of shorter par-fours and if you take care of your business on those gettable holes, it's hard to get yourself really out of position or short-side yourself that you're struggling for pars."