"I feel like this is a week of firsts and in a lot of ways, McIlroy said. It's a loose impediment and it was resting on the ball so if I moved the banana peel, the ball would have moved so I just didn't even didn't even try. I mean, I shouldn't have been there in the first place, but yeah, I wasn't the best to start."
"The sell-out crowd of 25,000 roared their approval through his back nine, with McIlroy adding another four birdies for a three-under 68, sitting at five-under for the tournament. I played well after that [second hole], sort of got a feel for it a little bit and especially I feel like I played the back nine well, the 2025 Masters champion said. I just need to figure out how to how to make a few more birdies on the front."
Rory McIlroy arrived at Royal Melbourne seven shots off the pace and suffered an unusual setback when his second-hole shot nestled under a grassy clump with a discarded banana peel draping the ball. The peel rested on the ball and moving it would have incurred a one-stroke penalty, so McIlroy declined to remove it. He called the episode a double whammy and admitted a poor start. McIlroy rebounded by birdieing the par-four third, added four more birdies, and carded a three-under 68 to sit five-under for the tournament. Tricky greens and intermittent rain hindered his putting and momentum.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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