Rusty Rory seven shots behind McCarty
CHARLOTTE—Matt Maccarty couldn’t stop making birdies. rory McIlroy thought he was never going to make one.
McCarty followed up four straight top 25 finishes on the PGA Tour with nine birdies at Quail Hollow to shoot an eight-under-par 63 on Thursday for a one-shot lead over Im Sung-jae before the opening round of the Truist Championship was called because of rain.
Im was on his final hole when the skies opened up. He, along with a handful of others, will complete the round on Friday.
Playing for the first time since winning his second consecutive Masters more than three weeks ago, McIlroy looked rusty at times on a course where he has dominated, winning four times while setting several tournament scoring records.
The world No. 2 made 17 straight pars to open the round before finally getting a birdie putt to drop on No. 9, celebrating by sarcastically thrusting both arms high in the air.
“I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie,” McIlroy, who is seven back after a 70, said. “I think I was like ‘just try to make one.’ I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there.”
Young in pursuit
Five players, including defending champion Sepp Straka, are three shots back. The others are Kristoffer Reitan, Nicolai Hojgaard, Harry Hall and Nick Taylor.
Cameron Young is once again in contention, four shots back along with Tommy Fleetwood. Young was also on his final hole before the rain hit.
Young, who turned 29 on Thursday, continues to take his game to a different level. After going 93 tournaments without a victory, he’s taken a quantum leap forward with three wins in his last 14 events, including last week at Doral.
McCarty was dynamite with his putter all day. He followed up a 59-foot birdie putt on No. 16 with a 52-footer on No. 17 to best Quail Hollow’s difficult three closing holes known as the Green Mile.
“I’ve been playing some good golf for the last few weeks,” McCarty said. “I wasn’t hitting it that great early today, but you make a bunch of 50-plus footers and it kind of gets your day going. Hit it a lot better on the back nine and nice to get a few coming home for sure.”
As much as McIlroy struggled, it was an even more frustrating day for his playing partners, Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick, who made up the featured group of the day.
Rose shot 71, while Fitzpatrick bristled at his caddie after his fairway wood found the water on the par-5 seventh hole, leading to a bogey and a 74.
