With Trump looking on, Feng leads US Women’s Open

If you’re just waking up, here’s what you missed during the first few hours of Thursday’s opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland’s native son and a big favorite this week, started his opening round in shocking fashion – a quadruple bogey on the par-4 first. McIlroy, who famously shot a course-record 61 at age 16 on the previous Royal Portrush layout, received a huge ovation when he was announced on the tee. But then his tee shot sailed out-of-bounds left. After his two playing partners – reigning U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland and Paul Casey – teed off, McIlroy had to re-tee, and his next tee shot found the rough. He two-putted for the quadruple bogey, tying for his worst score in a single hole in his major championship career. McIlroy followed by failing to birdie the par-5 second hole, then bogeyed the par-3 third when he missed the green with his tee shot. That left him 5 over through three holes. It was a nightmare start for the man who carries the weight of so many expectations from his countrymen this week. MEANWHILE, IN OTHER IRISH NEWS: Shane Lowry shot 3 under through his first nine holes and then birdied the 10th, giving him a share of the early lead at 4 under. Portrush native Graeme McDowell, whose home club of Rathmore is just outside the ticketed grounds, birdied the second hole and was 1 under through six. Royal Portrush member and Northern Ireland native Darren Clarke opened the tournament – Northern Ireland’s first Open in 68 years – by hitting the first tee shot and birdied three of his first five holes. He encountered trouble on the back nine, though and was even par through 17 holes. Amateur James Sugrue from Ireland, one of Clarke’s playing partners, also started well, 2 under through six holes and was even par through 17. Irishman Padraig Harrington was 2 under through five but fell back with four bogeys in his next 6 holes. GRILLO’S ACE: Emiliano Grillo aced the 194-yard par-3 13th. It’s the 33rd ace on the PGA TOUR this season. Also, it’s the first time since 2004 that at least one ace has been recorded at each of the majors and THE PLAYERS Championship. THE X MAN: Xander Schauffele, who has played so well in the majors this season – T2, T16, T3 – and was runner-up at last year’s Open, started with birdies in his first two holes and then moved to 3 under through five before suffering a bogey at the sixth. Looks like the American is headed for another good week. MAC ATTACK: Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre, who played collegiately in the U.S. at McNeese State, had the best early shot, holing out for eagle at the par-4 fifth. He was 4 under through eight holes before a bogey at the ninth. TIGER’S TEE TIME: Tiger Woods will tee off at 10:10 a.m. ET with Patrick Reed and Matthew Wallace. Check PGATOUR.COM for hole-by-hole coverage of Tiger’s round.

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The whispers were getting louder last week in Austin. Jordan Spieth is in trouble. He’s lost his putting mojo. Now Spieth has certainly struggled with his putting so far this PGA TOUR season compared to other times where it appeared he would never miss. But to suggest the 11-time PGA TOUR winner and three-time major champion can’t turn it around at a moment’s notice is beyond foolish. This is Jordan Spieth we are talking about. Yes, this is the guy who famously fell away at the 2016 Masters. But it is also the guy who turned a shocking round into a Claret Jug winning one at the 2017 Open Championship. By making clutch putts. He’s a former FedExCup champion. And he’s still only 24. Let’s look at both sides of the story as Spieth gets ready to attack the Houston Open this week. It’s not all good reading. We don’t deny that. He’s 172nd on the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting. In the previous five seasons he finished 42nd, 2nd, 9th, 20th and 60th in this stat. He’s 201st in Total Putting, 112th in One-Putt Percentage and T68 in 3-Putt avoidance. Brace yourself Spieth fans… it gets worse. Spieth is 196th in putting from three feet, 191st from four feet, 103rd from five feet. He ranks 189th in all putts inside 10 feet. But he’s been tinkering. He’s been working on things. “I’m human and I’m realistic that based on kind of the way the year’s gone. It’s been a pretty trying time for me, especially on and around the greens,â€� he said last week in Austin. “Stuff I took for granted in setup and pace control and all that kind of stuff, subconscious short game, stuff I’ve taken for granted in the past has been a little bit more difficult and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get back to that level and I’ve been trying different things.â€� Perhaps it is trying so many things that has been the problem. And perhaps even thinking it is a problem is part of the problem. “I’ve got so many check points in my head right now that I’m trying to get to before I get line and speed,â€� he continued. “And in the past it’s, okay, I’m set up, everything is good, line and speed. So, there’s like an extra like half a second or whatever but that’s an eternity when you’re over a putt of trying to just get yourself, okay, that’s good, now get that.â€� So now let’s look at the good. A year ago Spieth missed a three-foot putt at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It dropped him to T128 in the rankings from three feet. He never missed another three-footer all season, finishing the year ranked T8. After this week he heads to the Masters. He has been T2, 1, T2, T11 there. The greens at Augusta National are some of the slickest and toughest on TOUR. And all of this work is set to pay off at some time. He’s hopeful it will begin this week in Houston. “I’ve put in a lot of work and I’ll get results out of it,â€� he says defiantly. “It will just take a little time. I don’t know when it will come. I don’t know if it will come next week. I don’t know if it will come next year. But all I can do is embrace the challenge. I mean it’s better than backing away from it, that’s for sure. “Everything is fine. Once again, like the British Open it looked like whatever, and then I make one putt and it comes back. I just need a couple of putts to go in at some point, it’s just taking longer than normal. A couple of putts go in and all of a sudden it starts raining.â€� I for one forecast rain in the near future.

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Will golf actually return in mid-June? The PGA Tour appears confident. While the world still worries about the coronavirus and all those affected, this announcement offered something we could all use — a little optimism.

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