Rory McIlroy's Opening Round 80 at the Irish Open is Depressing

Rory McIlroy shot an 80 in his first round of the Irish Open at Royal County Down. That’s a pretty depressing score for the number one player in the world who just happens to be coming off of a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship –and that was preceded by a three-tournament stretch on the PGA Tour that included two wins. Even worse are the stats that go along with that round: Rory hit only 6-of-14 fairways, made no birdies, and was 1-of-9 scrambling. Yuck!

"“My poor iron play led to missed greens, which led to giving myself a lot of 8- to 12-footers for pars, and that led to missing all of them,” said McIlroy, who described his play as “worse as I got closer to the green.”"

Rory has never won the Irish Open and he’s come close only once in his eight appearances. He’s on the verge of missing the cut for the third-straight time and his record at the tournament is quite depressing.

2014 he tied for 76th
2013 he tied for 96th
2012 he tied for 10th
2011 he tied for 34th
2010 he tied for 35th
2009 he tied for 50th
2008 – his closest finish to the top – he finished 7th
2005 he finished tied for 112th

McIlroy, whose charity is hosting the tournament, figures he needs to shoot five-under to make the cut. That would put him tied for 90th, with … Sergio Garcia. If he fails to make the cut, it would be the second time in as many weeks. An early exit may not be a bad thing for McIlroy, who, even though he says he doesn’t need 10 practice rounds to prepare for the U.S. Open, may benefit from the extra time. This is McIlroy’s fifth tournament this month, a break for a week or two wouldn’t hurt, but back-to-back missed cuts may encourage McIlroy to add a tournament to his schedule before heading to Chambers Bay.

Meanwhile, that guy who was overrated and went out and won the Players Championship and then took a two-week break himself, Rickie Fowler, is sitting at even par. Padraig Harrington, who hadn’t won a tournament since 2008 before winning the Honda Classic this year, leads at four-under.

[PGA]