GOLF BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPTHE UNCUSTOMARY, and unacceptable, sight of Rory McIlroy tossing a club in frustration in yesterday's first round of the BMW PGA Championship suitably summed up the exasperating examination of the West Course. As much as a player may claim to love it, the course will punish shots which are in any way miss-hit.
Not even the world’s best golfer is immune.
As it happened, McIlroy – who took out his annoyance after hitting his approach shot to the 12th a matter of inches out of bounds, the errant shot compounding a couple of missed short putts on previous holes – was among a number of players to suffer as temperatures touched 30 degrees in his leafy part of the Surrey stockbroker belt.
McIlroy signed for a 74 in a wildly contrasting round that featured an eagle, three birdies, a double-bogey and five bogeys. Indeed, four of those bogeys came in five holes, between the eighth and the 12th. Yet, as the Ulsterman compared the round as a “case of deja vu” with his closing round here a year ago, others, among them Dubliner Peter Lawrie, contrived to show that patience can be a virtue when it comes to tackling the whimsical demands of the Burma Road course.
Lawrie was as cool and calm as McIlroy was hot and bothered. Despite failing to shake off a cough which has irritably stayed with him since playing in China last month, Lawrie – ranked 212th in the world rankings – shot an opening round 66, six-under par, which left him tied for the lead with Scotland’s David Drysdale.
If McIlroy claimed his club throwing incident as “a release” of built-up frustration, for which he will likely get a rap on the knuckles and a fine from the PGA European Tour in its flagship tournament, Lawrie’s demeanour was at the opposite spectrum. In fact, Lawrie played so well in practice that he turned to his caddie walking down the first fairway and told him he’d never felt as nervous on a golf course. The sense of expectation, from himself and to himself, was palpable.
He didn’t disappoint. The round didn’t feature a single blemish, which, on a course where double- and triple-bogeys abounded, was quite a feat. Lawrie was five under through six holes – courtesy of an eagle and three birdies, the eagle coming on the par-five fourth where he hit a two iron off the tee and the six-iron approach to eight feet – and, thereafter, played solidly to get the job done.
Indeed, it could have been even better for Lawrie. On both the 17th and 18th, he had 10-footers for birdie and, on each occasion, he left the putts short of the hole. Still, there was no lamenting such missed opportunities. The mindset was positive. “The course is set up great for me. I’m not one of the longest hitters on tour, but I am one of the straightest. It’s a course you have to be very patient on and I’m quite a patient person . . . you have to play really good golf. You can’t miss a shot and you can’t take your foot off the gas in any shape or form,” said Lawrie.
Given the way the early part of the year is set up, with WGCs and Majors which he wasn’t in, Lawrie confessed that his has been a “stop-start” season so far. “I’m not in the bigger events. So you try and pick and choose. I’ve got four children at home and a wife to look after as well. The juggling act has been difficult,” he explained.
Yet, there was a degree of expectation heading in here. Something clicked with his swing at the Spanish Open and he spent the two weeks away from tournament play working on it with his coach. Lawrie, who previously shared the first-round lead here in 2005 before eventually finishing 39th, is intent on hanging around this time.
Lawrie and Drysdale made hay while the sun shone, to take a one-stroke lead over a quintet of players that included Justin Rose. Defending champion Luke Donald was among those grouped on 68, two behind the leaders.
The 12-strong Irish contingent had starkly contrasting fortunes, with three of the Major winners – McIlroy, McDowell and Harrington – all suffering wrath of one kind or another in shooting over par rounds. McIlroy’s frustration boiled over on the 12th where he hit his approach out of bounds. “I was trying to cut it in, trying to hold it up against the wind and just double-crossed it . . . I feel like I’m playing well, just need to go out there and shoot the score,” claimed McIlroy.
With no Irish winner here since Harry Bradshaw in 1958, Lawrie leads the way in seeking to break that famine with his error-free 66, but David Higgins (70), Gareth Maybin (70), Darren Clarke (71), Barrie Trainor (71), Damien McGrane (71) and Shane Lowry (71) were among those who also shot sub-par rounds.
