Rory McIlroy’s decision to leave his driver in his locker did not affect his scoring ability as he made six birdies around the cramped Derry Golf Club, but suffered a setback with three bogeys in the opening round of the DP World India Championship.
The world No. 2 got off to an ideal start by chipping in from the fringe on the first 10th hole, but trouble began on the 11th hole when he three-putted and failed to recover, resulting in back-to-back bogeys.
Despite not having his longest club in his bag, McIlroy had no trouble birdieing the two par 5s to come back at 1 under and pick up three more strokes over the next seven holes.
However, he bogeyed the 522-yard No. 8 and finished with a 3-under 69, five behind clubhouse leader Shane Lowry.
“The dog (driver) was out of the bag, probably asleep in the locker. I was thinking about it before I went to bed last night,” McIlroy said of his club selection in a post-round interview. “If I’m really careful on the par 5s today, I might put a 5-wood on the green. But I’m not going to hit the driver. So I’m going to have to hit a 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron all the way, and I have a 5-wood in case I need to hit an approach shot on a par 5.”
That didn’t help him on the 17th hole, the par-5 8th hole, where he hit his tee shot into the trees, went only 15 yards into the rough and made bogey.
McIlroy said the course was still “pretty tricky” despite the limited length required off the tee.
“I’m just trying to be as conservative as possible off the tee and get a birdie on the par 5 and maybe two more,” he said.
Lowry, who led with eight birdies, said the constant noise of Derry’s traffic was much easier to deal with than the verbal abuse of the Ryder Cup crowd in New York.
Playing alongside European captain Luke Donald and teammate Tommy Fleetwood, Lowry finished with five consecutive birdies on the back nine against the backdrop of the constant honking noise of the capital’s road network. He closed out his round of 64 with a birdie on the 18th.
“Everyone had a great time, everyone played pretty well, and I just had a few more birdies than they had on the back nine,” Lowry said. “We could hear the honking from the road, but it wasn’t as obnoxious as the crowds in Bethpage.
“There was a little chat there about the Ryder Cup, but at the end of the day, we’re all professional golfers and even though we’re friends, at the end of the day we all want to win against each other.”
Fleetwood and Donald both finished at 4 under.
Keita Nakajima (65) also started the front nine with five consecutive birdies from No. 18 in the middle of the round, and then four consecutive birdies. This year is a critical time for the former world No. 1 amateur as he aims to break into the top 10 European Tour players who will be awarded a PGA Tour card in 2026.
Ben Griffin, making his Ryder Cup debut for the US team, started with a 68 alongside Michael Kim, another American whose arrival in India was delayed due to visa issues. Kim has already won the French Open on this year’s European Tour.
This is the start of a big stretch run at the end of the year for McIlroy, with him scheduled to play in the Australian Open as well as the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
