Logically among the favorites at the start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Rory McIlory hit hard from the start with a card of 65 (-7) which pushes the competition back two lengths. Paul Barjon is beyond the top 100.
Rory McIlroy knows perfectly how to tame the difficult course of Bay Hill as evidenced by his victory here in 2018. The world number five has once again proven that he knows how to shine on the course dear to the late Arnold Palmer by signing a superb card of 65 (-7) to be two strokes ahead of an American trio led by Billy Horschel after the first eighteen holes. Heckled by a bogey from his second hole (the 11th since he started from the 10th), the Northern Irishman immediately started moving forward with in particular an eagle on the 16th and six birdies without any fault afterwards. “I played the par 5s particularly well. (note: with a score of -5 on the four par 5s of the day) and that was the key to my good scorehe calculated.
Rory. Eagle. Early co-leader. ???? pic.twitter.com/AaI3rSCqlu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 3, 2022
Adam Scott evolves without a driver
The Northern Irish had the wind in their sails to start the Arnold Palmer Invitational since Graeme McDowell also shone with a card of 68 (-4) to settle firmly in the top 5 alongside the Australian Adam Scottwho certainly had a thought for his compatriot Jason Day, package following the death of his mother. Scott had also decided to play without a driver on Thursday to avoid the pitfalls of the rough, leaving McIlroy an average of 40 meters in front of him at the start (the two men were playing together alongside the Austrian Sepp Straka). «My game plan worked pretty well“, noted the fifth ex aequo. If the winner of the 2013 Masters chose an original strategy on the tees, it is on the greens that Jon Rahm got stuck as shown this incredible missed putt of twenty centimeters. With the par total, the world number one remains at the gates of the top 50.
Paul Barjon stuck after seven holes
Paul Barjon struggled for seven holes on the Bay Hill layout, before giving in to the course redesigned by Arnold Palmer. A double-bogey on 8, followed by a bogey on 9 with twice three-putts took him out of the rhythm and pushed him inexorably above par. Without any birdie on his last eleven holes, the New Caledonian finished beyond the top 100 (+4), just behind the Dane Nicolai Hojgaard who nevertheless distinguished himself with a spectacular birdie at 8.
Swish. ????
Nicolai Hojgaard drains it from deep. pic.twitter.com/p76o7r07sf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 3, 2022
The summary of the first round
Classification
Photo David Cannon / Getty Images via AFP
