Tranlate this title Rory McIlroy gets lost on the greens of Birkdale in spanish

Unless things change drastically, this will not be Rory McIlroy’s second British Open title either. The Claret Jug has eluded him since 2014, when it was the last major trophy he won before entering a drought in the big games that lasted until last year’s Masters. The Northern Irishman started with a rough 72 (+2) on Thursday at Riyal Birkdale, where the first round ended with the threat of what would be the fourth consecutive American champion of this hallowed institution of English sport being crowned there.

Six of the twelve men in the top 10 were born on the other side of the Atlantic, a land that has produced 14 of the 25 winners this century. Among them is the one who has gone the furthest, Jackson Suber, a middle-class golfer who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, where he has missed the cut nine times in 15 appearances this season. He qualified thanks to his top-10 finish at the last Canadian Open, which is only his third major, and he couldn’t have started better. His 65 included six birdies, an eagle, and three bogeys, a remarkable performance given the afternoon conditions. The greens at Birkdale were beginning to show their age, and many rounds became bogged down.

McIlroy, results

Like McIlroy, unable to decipher the putting surfaces, this was the major handicap faced by those in the second wave, which otherwise played in relatively mild conditions, with a very manageable wind, that had prevailed in the morning. Rors, very aggressive off the tee, bogeyed six times, including the only two par 5s, both on the back nine. He interspersed these with three birdies. Affected by problems with his short game, he ended up hitting some odd shots, like the one that cost him his final bogey of the day on the 17th.

Outside the top 100, he’ll have a tough time on Friday, where at least he’ll tee off early and find watered greens, to avoid what would be his second missed cut at the Open in the last three years. “With the positions I got off the tee, I should have had a better score. I struggled to read the speed of the greens. They were very inconsistent. Some parts are alive and growing, and others are dead. It was a bit like Pebble Beach at a U.S. Open. And then I made a lot of stupid mistakes. Let’s see if I find better conditions tomorrow, a softer course in the morning, and I can shoot a low round,” he explained afterward.

The local crowd hasn’t cheered on a homegrown champion since McIlroy himself, 12 years ago, and on Thursday they had to watch as other favorites also fell apart. Matt Fitzpatrick, one of the most in-form players this year, finished at +2. Justin Rose plummeted to +5, and Matthew Jordan, a local who is a member of the neighboring Royal Liverpool, carded a +7. The best hands now belong to Dan Brown, who shot -4 in the morning, Alex Fitzpatrick, Matt’s brother, and Tommy Fleetwood, the latter two at -1.