At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Rory McIlroy’s first real test didn’t go so well. By the second hole, the world’s best golfer was in a tough spot.
McIlroy played in the tournament for the second time in his career, but it was the first time he didn’t have to limit the number of people in the crowd. This meant it was the first time he had to deal with the Phoenix Open’s famous fans.
After making a bogey on the first hole at TPC Scottsdale, McIlroy hooked his tee shot on the second hole, a par-4, and it hit a fence and went straight into the trees in front of him.
Instead of playing it safe, McIlroy went for the hole, using a shot that was somewhere between a half swing and a punch to keep the ball below the trees and on the right path to the green.
The man from Northern Ireland made his shot, and the ball landed on the green, 43 feet from the hole.
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McIlroy ended up rolling his first putt to within three feet, then tapped it in for a par to finish the hole.
He didn’t have the best round. At the end of the day, he was two strokes over par, with four bogeys and two birdies on the par-5 15th and par-4 17th holes.
McIlroy got a score of par on the famous par-3 16th hole called “Coliseum.”
McIlroy talked about playing the course at full strength in front of its fans on Wednesday. He said that a few events of this size will help “grow the game.”
He also said that this tournament should have been one of the “designated events” on the PGA Tour, where purses grew to $20 million and the winner got a check for more than $3 million.
He said, “I think this tournament is a great show for the game of golf.”
“For hundreds of thousands of fans to show up at this event, I think it was clear that it needed to be a big deal,” he said.
