McIlroy Seeks Victory at the DP World India Championship
The renowned golfer Rory McIlroy demonstrated his skill at the Delhi Golf Club, despite leaving his driver in the locker room. The athlete achieved six birdies in the first round of the DP World India Championship, although he regretted three bogeys that affected his performance. McIlroy, currently number two in the world, started off well by holing out from the edge on the 10th hole. However, problems arose on the 11th hole, where he made three putts. Despite not using the driver, the golfer achieved birdies on the two par-5s and achieved a score of 1 under par. The athlete continued to add, but a bogey on the eighth hole led him to finish with a result of 3 under par, remaining five strokes behind the leader, Shane Lowry.This strategy didn’t work on the 8th hole, where his tee shot ended up in the trees, resulting in a “bogey”. McIlroy described the course as “quite tricky”, despite the limited distance from the tee.The driver was out of play, probably asleep in the locker room. I was thinking about it last night before bed. Sometimes, if you’re very conservative today on a par-5, you could have a 5-wood towards the green, but I’m never going to hit the driver. So I thought I had to use a 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron all the way, and then I have a 5-wood in case I need to use it for an approach shot on a par-5.
Rory McIlroy
On the other hand, Shane Lowry, who leads the tournament with eight birdies, commented that the noise of Delhi’s traffic was more manageable than the Ryder Cup fans in New York. Lowry, playing with European captain Luke Donald and Tommy Fleetwood, had an impressive run with five birdies in a row, despite the ambient noise of the Indian capital. He finished his round with a birdie on the 18th hole.You’re just trying to be as conservative as possible off the tee and then try to get birdies on the par-5s and maybe pick up a couple more.
Rory McIlroy
Fleetwood and Donald finished with a score of 4 under par. Keita Nakajima also shone with five birdies in a row, starting at the 18th hole and continuing on the first four holes. This is a crucial moment for the former amateur world number one, who is looking to break into the top 10 players on the European circuit to get a PGA Tour card in 2026. Ben Griffin, who debuted in the Ryder Cup for the U.S. team, started with a 68 along with American Michael Kim, who had visa issues to get to India. Kim already won on the European circuit this year at the French Open. This tournament marks the beginning of an important stage for McIlroy, who also plans to participate in the Abu Dhabi Championship, the DP World Tour Championship, and the Australian Open.We had a lot of fun and we all played pretty well, and I just got a few birdies more than them in the last nine holes.
Shane Lowry
