Rory McIlroy’s frustration boiled over when he snapped a wedge in horribly missing the green at the final hole to post a double-bogey on the opening day of the ZoZo Championship.
McIlroy was one-under par coming to the 18th hole but then sent his tee shot way right and over trees to an adjoining hole on the Sherwood Country Club course near Thousand Oaks to the north of L A.
The four-time Major winning then superbly found the 18th fairway slap bang in the middle and just 135-yards from the green.
However, he sent his third shot some 30-feet right of the flag and just off the green from where he three-putted for a double bogey ‘6’ and his one-over par 73 that left him sharing 64th place in the now 77-player field following the withdrawal of the US Open winner, Gary Woodland.
SKY Sports Robert Lee tried to put a positive spin post the scenes that unfolded for McIlroy down the last saying: “Rory can come out and shoot a 62 tomorrow but it won’t be today.”
This was after Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley had remarked: “Just a horrible way to finish. Just horrible. There will be no range. There will be no practice putting green. It will be pack those clubs up and then go back to the digs and cry.”
McIlroy was in a good position after nine holes having moved to two-under par on the back of three birdies and just the one bogey but it all turned pear-shaped over his closing nine holes. He bogeyed both the 10th and 11th holes and while he birdied the 13th he then ended his round bogey, double-bogey, birdie, birdie and then the double on 18,
When’s the last time McIlroy had two double-bogeys in his round?
McIlroy finds himself heading to day two of the $US 8m event trailing nine shots behind Columbian Sebestain Munoz who leads the field by a stroke at eight-under par.
England’s in-form Tyrrell Hatton and American Justin Thomas posted seven under par 65s to be sharing second.
And former five-time Sherwood winner Tiger Woods could manage just two birdies in a horror four-over par 76 to be just one shot clear of fellow American Adam Long who is at the tail of the field at five-over par.
