The all-Ireland Zurich Classic defending duo of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry kick-started their defencnce of the title with two eagles on route to a four-ball best ball eight-under 64 at TPC Louisana.
The effort has the duo just inside the top-20 among the field of 80 two-man teams and 1o shots adrift of the leading duo of the Americans Isaiah Salida and Kevin Velo.
McIlroy and Lowry were each dressed in all black and with McIlroy clearly delighted to be introduced to the crowd as the Masters Champion.
“I was glad they remembered The Players as well,” McIlroy said with a smile, “It seems like a distant memory at this point. “Look, very nice. I could get used to it.”
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry day one in their defence of the Zurich Classic title. Image PGA Tour.
Shane got off to a really good start. I didn’t do anything,” McIlroy said with a laugh. “Shane joked I could have got a couple extra hours in bed if I wanted to. I played a bit better coming in. It was okay.
We felt like we left a few shots out there, but we were just saying the two Foursomes days on Friday and Sunday here are the important days in this tournament, and it’s important for us to obviously post a good score tomorrow.”
Lowry grabbed birdies on three of the team’s first four holes (they started on the back nine) before saving a par on No. 14 after McIlroy made bogey. Lowry added one more birdie on the par-5 18th before the duo made the turn and
McIlroy finally got on the board with a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on No. 2.
Lowry added another birdie on No. 3 before both Lowry and McIlroy knocked their tee shots in the water on the par-4 sixth en route to making a bogey. McIlroy got that shot back with a birdie on the next hole, the par-5 seventh, before the pair parred in the rest of the way.
Lowry made birdies on three of the team’s first four holes (they started on te back nine) before saving a par on No. 14 after McIlroy made bogey.
Lowry added one more birdie on the par-5 18th before the duo made the turn and McIlroy finally got on the board with a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on No. 2.
“You always know in Four-ball, especially early Thursday morning, the golf course is probably going to play at its easiest”, said Lowry.
“You’ve got to get out there and shoot a score. We got off to a nice start and then we got a little bit slow towards the end of the front nine and then we caught fire – Rory caught fire early on our back nine and then we lost a bit of momentum towards the end.
“It was one of those days where you do want to go low, (but) I think the two Foursomes days in this tournament are huge. That’s what separates the field. Hopefully we can go out tomorrow and shoot a good score and work from there to the weekend.”
No team has ever gone back-to-back at the Zurich Classic, and while there were a few missteps Thursday, McIlroy and Lowry feel like they’ve done enough to keep the foot (well, feet) on the gas heading into the weekend.
“I think sometimes every par you make feels like a bogey on these sorts of days, but then again, you have to remember that (Friday) and Sunday are the important days,” McIlroy said.
“And if you can shoot good scores on those days, you can move up the board pretty quickly.”
- Copy with thanks PGA Tour
