ORLANDO – Rory McIlroy executed his strategy flawlessly at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge. He drove it in the fairways, holed a couple putts, and went 5 under par on the four par 5s en route to a 7-under 65.
He remarked of his game, “It felt as good as it has in a long time.”
Good enough to put him two strokes ahead of Beau Hossler and J.J. Spaun in the first round of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational, on a course where McIlroy is a past champion (2018) and has the longest active top-10 streak in the tournament. Not quite on the same level as Tiger Woods’ eight victories, but not bad either.
On Wednesday, McIlroy added, “It’s one of those courses where I don’t feel like I have to do anything exceptional to contend.” “I have the ability to play within myself.” You’re in charge of the par-5s on this course. The rest of the way, you play conservatively, especially given how the golf course has been put out in recent years. You play for pars first, then try to make birdies on par-5s and some of the easier holes. You’ll find yourself near the top of the leaderboard if you just keep doing that day after day.”
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McIlroy, who won the CJ Cup in October, said he set a goal of winning six times this year and that his game felt crisp coming off the Genesis Invitational, where he tied for 10th after three rounds in the 60s. He noted that hitting more than 60% of his fairways (he hit 57.35 percent of fairways last season, which ranked No. 145 on Tour, and his rough proximity on approach shots ranked No. 154) and improving his proximity inside 150 yards are two keys to finding the winner’s circle more frequently (he ranked No. 141 from 75-100 yards).
His tee game was on point on Thursday, as he hit 15 of 18 fairways.
“I think there’s no one better in the world with a driver than Rory with a driver,” Graeme McDowell, who opened with a 4-under 68, said. “You have the potential to bring this course to a halt. If you drive it well here, it won’t come to a complete stop.”
“When he hits it straight like he did today, it’s easy to make any course look fairly simple from there,” said Adam Scott, who was in McIlroy’s threesome and shot a 68.
McIlroy was also pleased with his long iron play, mentioning a pair of 4-irons he hit to set up birdies on Nos. 6 and 12.
He said, “Those were probably two of the best long irons I’ve hit in a long time.” “I know my swing is in good shape when I start hitting long irons like that.”
While superb driving is rewarded at Bay Hill, Scott said McIlroy’s game was hitting on all cylinders.
“His speed and putting were very excellent today,” Scott remarked. “To get to 7-under around here, you’ve need to hole a few putts.” I felt his entire game looked fantastic.”
McIlroy has rediscovered his stride on the greens, including a 41-foot birdie putt at the par-5 16th hole, his longest eagle putt on the Tour.
When notified of the feat, McIlroy remarked, “No way.” “I was just trying to get it close with a 40-footer up the hill, and if it drops, that’s a bonus.”
When he won the CJ Cup, McIlroy ranked first in Stroked Gains: Putting, and he ended in the top ten in that statistical area at the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy remarked of the pocket-sized books with extremely detailed images of the putting surfaces that were prohibited at the start of the year, “I’ve actually really appreciated not having a green book.” “It seems to have gotten me more into putting… To be honest, I feel like it’s helped me out in the last few weeks, and that’s been nice.”
It’s not hard to figure why why Palmer’s winter getaway has always appealed to McIlroy. However, McDowell may have given the best response.
“I’m not sure,” McDowell admitted. “Isn’t he just fantastic?”
