Who’s safe, who’s not for Presidents Cup at Medinah

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - Rory McIlroy has been distracted lately. Now we know why. The two-time FedExCup champion and his wife Erica are about to become parents for the first time with a baby girl due any day now. McIlroy confirmed the news, which had leaked out while he played his third round of the BMW Championship, after signing for a 3-over 73. The 18-time PGA TOUR winner dropped from the 36-hole lead into a tie for sixth, still very much in contention at a tough Olympia Fields, but now three shots back of the lead. Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama are the only two players under par at one under. They share a two-shot buffer at the top. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Rahm cards 66 despite Rules gaffe "From the get-go my mind has been wandering the last few weeks, and now you guys sort of know the reason why," McIlroy said. "We’re about to be parents very soon, so we’re obviously super excited." "We've been sharing the news with friends and family, obviously, but I didn’t think it was something that I really particularly needed to share out here. It’s a private matter, but we’re really excited and can’t wait for her to get here." The 31-year-old also confirmed that his charge towards a sixth FedExCup Playoff win here in Chicago, or his efforts to become the first three-time and first back-to-back FedExCup champion next week in Atlanta, could end at any moment. "I’m just waiting for a phone call. I was waiting for a phone call last week and it didn’t come, and then Harry (his caddie) has been keeping his phone in his pocket just to make sure, but nothing as of yet," McIlroy said. "(If the call comes) I’m out of here. Yeah, out of here. I’m going to play in many more TOUR Championships and it’s only going to be the birth of your first child once. That trumps anything else." The news helps partially explain McIlroy's dip in form of late. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown he finished inside the top five of all six of his TOUR events, including winning the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions last fall. Since returning after the break, and in the midst of the joys of a first pregnancy, McIlroy's focus has understandably shifted a little. He has just one top 25 finish - a T11 at the Travelers Championship - in his seven starts. McIlroy was quick to point out the happy news is not solely to blame for the lack of results. "Not so much the first few weeks, but the last couple of weeks, when you’re going out to play and maybe not knowing whether you’re going to finish the round or not, that's a little tough," he explained when asked how distracting it has been during his golf. "It’s definitely not an excuse. I just haven’t played well enough. But again, I keep talking about perspective. If you do play bad, I’ve got some awesome stuff coming up on the horizon, which is really cool, and it makes the bad days a lot easier to handle." McIlroy's play on Saturday could be described more as unlucky then bad. While he was scrappy at times he fought hard in tough, firm and fast conditions and saw a number of crucial putts lip out or burn edges. While a putter change between the first and second round worked well, on Saturday it was different. Having started with a TaylorMade TP Soto, McIlroy has gone back to his TaylorMade Spider X the last two days. In round one he ranked 45th of 69 players in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.532) but on Friday he was 21st (+0.506). The third round saw him need 35 putts and he was ranked 63rd on the greens (-1.680). "I played okay. I probably didn’t drive it as well as I did the first couple of days, which put me out of position. And then from there, it’s so tough to get it close. I had nine birdies through the first two days and only had two birdies today," McIlroy said. "A lot good putts that caught edges, dived across the front of the hole or maybe a touch firm and caught the top side. I had a couple tentative ones on the front nine, but once I got the speed down a little bit more I felt like I actually putted okay, even though not much dropped." Despite the troubles, McIlroy feels he can still make up the deficit on what shapes to be another tough round on Sunday. "Felt like I hung in there... it was just a shame to bogey the last. It would have been nice to go into tomorrow one closer to the lead, but I think I’m still right in the thick of things. If I can get off to a decent start tomorrow, hopefully I’ll be right there," he said. Provided that is that the call doesn't come.

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A quick look at the opening round of The Masters, where a firm and fast Augusta National bedeviled players. RELATED: Full leaderboard THE LEADERS Justin Rose (65): He was 2 over par for his first seven holes but played his next 10 holes in 9 under par, including an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole. Rose has had success at Augusta National – including two runner-up finishes – but this round was a bit unexpected. Not only was Augusta National playing difficult, but this was his first competitive round since he withdrew with an injury halfway through last month’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Rose entered this week ranked 164th in the FedExCup, with just two top-25s (and no top-10s) in seven starts this season. STORYLINES TOUGH STUFF: The patrons were back at Augusta National for the first time in two years but there weren’t many roars because birdies and eagles were tough to come by. Firm and fast conditions – and an inconsistent, swirling breeze – made things difficult for players. “(It) started off as a nice casual stroll around Augusta and turned into a roller coaster pretty quickly there on the back,” said Kevin Kisner, who shot 72. “It’s a super stressful grind is the best way to describe it.” WAKE UP: It was a good day for Wake Forest alums at Augusta National. Both Webb Simpson and Will Zalatoris shot 2-under 70. Simpson is one of just four players to finish in the top 10 in the past two Masters. Zalatoris, who’s one of just three professionals making his Masters debut this week, made eagle on 15. No Masters first-timer has won since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. PAIR OF ACES: Tommy Fleetwood made an ace on the 16th hole, giving him an ace in each of his last two tournaments. Fleetwood also made one in his Round of 16 match with Dylan Frittelli at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. NOTABLES JON RAHM (72) – Rahm didn’t arrive at Augusta National until Wednesday and hadn’t touched a club for several days after the birth of his first child, but he put together a solid opening round. Rahm has finished in the top 10 in the last three Masters, the second-longest active streak. “Even though I didn’t do much golf-related from Friday to Monday, the work is done before, right?” he said Thursday. “So I just need to come in here healthy, good mobility when it comes to the body, and then the right mindset.” DUSTIN JOHNSON (74) – The defending champion is trying to be the first player since Tiger Woods in 2001-02 to win back-to-back Masters. He made his defense more difficult, however, by playing his final three holes in 3 over, including a double-bogey on the 18th hole. BROOKS KOEPKA (74) – Walking Augusta National’s hills are difficult for Koepka after a recent surgery but he said he can still contend this week. He bogeyed four of the first five holes on the second nine but bounced back with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16. “It was fine,” Koepka said about his knee. “I just didn’t play good.” RORY McILROY (76) – McIlroy’s quest to complete the career Grand Slam may have to wait another year. The two-time FedExCup champion, who is in the midst of swing changes under new coach Pete Cowen, struggled Thursday. His approach shot on No. 7 even hit his father, Gerry. “I think any time you’re working on things with your swing, it’s going to feel very different, but it’s not as if I haven’t done these things before,” Rory said. “You get into these bad habits and that feels normal, and then you get it back into position where I’ve been a million times before and it just feels a little different, right.” WORTH WATCHNG BY THE NUMBERS 4 – This is the fourth time that Justin Rose has held the first-round lead at the Masters, tied with Jack Nicklaus for the most first-round leads in tournament history. Rose also held the Thursday lead here in 2008, 2007 and 2004. 4 – Rose’s four-shot lead matches the second-largest 18-hole lead in Masters history. Craig Wood led by five shots after the first round in 1941 before going on to win. 6 – Jordan Spieth made triple on Augusta National’s ninth hole, which features no water or out of bounds. It was just the sixth score of triple or worse made on that hole in the past decade.

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