Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
McIlroy had a strong start on Thursday at the Genesis Invitational, but then Riviera got the best of him on the back nine.
Rory McIlroy is yet to hit his stride in 2024 on the PGA Tour, and adversity hit him smack in the face during the first round of the Genesis Invitational Thursday.
What began as a decent round turned into a disaster as he made a bogey or worse in three of his final four holes at Riviera Country Club. He did make a birdie on the par-5 17th, but that wasn’t enough to salvage the day.
McIlroy opened his round with a birdie on the first and added another on the par-4 5th to make the turn in 33 strokes. He was in contention late on Day 1. He then gained a little more momentum on the par-4 10th with another birdie, but things went off the rails from there.
The 24-time PGA Tour winner dropped a shot on the 12, and then it got bad. McIlroy made double bogey on 15 and a triple bogey on the par-3 16th.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
On the par-4 15th, he went wide right off the tee. His second shot went just 164 yards finding more rough. Then McIlroy whiffed back-to-back wedge shots to finally reach the green and proceeded to two-putt for the double.
The 16th was even worse for the Northern Irishman.
Off the tee, he hit it into the front greenside bunker. McIlroy completely chunked his second shot and failed to clear the sand. His third shot finally got out and gave him around seven feet for a bogey.
Yet, the four-time major champion shockingly three-putted from there to card a triple.
McIlroy went from 2-under to 3-over in a matter of two holes.
This week marks his second PGA Tour start of the year after he finished T66 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That finish was a surprise after he played so well on the DP World Tour to start his season.
He finished runner-up to Tommy Fleetwood in the Dubai Invitational and then proceeded to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic for a fourth time.
It’s odd that he would return to the States and fall flat. McIlroy has quite the hole to dig out of this week after that atrocious finish on Thursday.
He will tee off at 12;25 p.m. ET.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
