Good times continued for members of the European Ryder Cup team at Derry Golf Club on Thursday, with the man sinking the all-important putt at Bethpage Black to take sole lead after 18 holes. Shane Rowley shot an unblemished 64 in the opening round of the 2025 Indian Championship, taking his tournament total to eight under par and one stroke behind Japan’s Keita Nakajima.
“You know, 64 is a really great score,” Lowry said. “It’s not that hard when you’re out there, but once you start missing fairways it gets pretty tricky. I was really happy when I saw the draw. I’ve been with the guys and there have been some good things over the last few weeks. I haven’t played with Luke (Donald) a lot in tournaments, but obviously I know him well and it was really nice to have everyone push each other.”
Lowry played the opening refrain with European skipper Luke Donald, who with his good friend Tommy Fleetwood shot a 68, including a hole-out eagle on the par-5 14th hole, matching Fleetwood’s 68 to secure a top-10 spot. Comfortable grouping was the theme on the par-72 tee seat, where world No. 2 Rory McIlroy played alongside Ben Griffin. and Viktor Hovland.
The American had a quick finish outside Delhi GC, scoring a 68 of his own and tops the three-ball. The two-time PGA Tour winner this season was 1 under, but caught fire in the final six holes and shot up the leaderboard by playing 4 under.
“It’s a difficult course. You have to be in the fairway,” Griffin said. “If you’re in the rough, you have to get the right angle to the pin. I felt like I did a pretty good job of keeping it in the fairway for most of the day. I fell into the rough a few times, but a few of those holes were par 5s and I was laying up there, so it all worked out. I was able to post some good numbers, so hopefully I can keep my foot on the pedal for the rest of the week.”
Hovland never really hit his stride in the scoring department, with just one bogey and two birdies. He played the first nine holes at even par and stringed together nine consecutive pars to open the tournament. Meanwhile, tournament headliner McIlroy made even more headlines by choosing to keep his driver in the locker room and outside his bag, given the narrow, tight fairways that characterize Derry GC.
“The dog was out of the bag and was probably asleep in the locker,” McIlroy said. “So…I was thinking about that last night before I went to bed. Well, if I’m really careful after today’s par 5, I might put a 5-wood on the green, but I’m not going to hit the driver, so I was thinking, “I’m going to have to hit it with a 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron all the way through.” And then I’m going to hit it with a 5-wood in case I need to hit an approach shot on the par 5. “I prepared a number wood.” But I can’t see the hole I hit there.It’s more than 260, 270 on the tee shot. ”
McIlroy got off to a shaky start, with early birdies quickly canceled out by bogeys on No. 11 and 12, the second and third holes of the round. The Northern Irishman birdied both par-5s on the first nine and started bouncing around the turn as he headed to the other side of the golf course at one under.
Circles continued to be etched on my scorecard as I rolled with a long-range connection on the par-3 seventh to extend my round to four under. At the time, there were only two names ahead of McIlroy on the leaderboard, but the Grand Slam winner couldn’t get past the first 18 holes without facing adversity in the final run. On the par-5 8th hole, his tee shot went off the line and hit the bushes, resulting in bogey and opening with a 69.
“I think it’s similar to the strategy I used today, especially off the tee,” McIlroy said. “You just have to put the ball in the fairway. The rough is unpredictable. You get a lot of flyers, like the last two times I went there. Yeah, maybe you can be a little less aggressive on your approach shot and get the ball on the right side of the pin.”
In addition to Fleetwood, Griffin and Donald, Americans Brian Harman and Michael Kim also performed well in the first round, signing in the 68s. The two efforts led to an unconventional tournament in which Herman had manager Jeremy Elliott carry the bag, while Kim entered the tournament blind after posting on social media earlier in the week that she was stuck in Japan due to visa issues.
