Rory McIlroy Endures Roller Coaster Aussie Open, Day 1

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00:00Rory McIlroy Endures Roller Coaster Aussie Open Day 1

00:03Rory McIlroy arrived in Melbourne with opinions, expectations, and a bit of swagger.

00:09But what he got on Thursday at Royal Melbourne was a bracing dose of humility

00:12delivered in 18 swirling, unpredictable holes.

00:16The course, famed for its fast-running fairways, treacherous bunkers, and devilish greens,

00:21answered McIlroy's earlier dismissive comments with a round that seemed straight out of a cautionary tale.

00:27Opening his tournament with a 1 over par 72, McIlroy played the kind of round that evokes literary dualities.

00:34Elegant birdies offset by clumsy bogeys, brilliance fading into blunders.

00:39It was, in his own words, a roller coaster.

00:42And one could argue that never has a ride through Royal Melbourne been so emblematic of its legendary bite.

00:49The winds didn't whisper, they howled.

00:51Gusts reaching up to 60 kilometers per hour danced across the course,

00:55turning confident swings into coin flips, and simple putts into treacherous adventures.

01:01Rory McIlroy's round at the Australian Open struggled with rhythm.

01:04After a promising birdie on the 10th, back-to-back bogeys stalled his momentum,

01:09and misjudged approaches and three putts repeatedly undercut his play.

01:13His final setback came on the par 3-7, where he, Adam Scott, and Minwoo Lee all bogeyed.

01:18Despite the unsteady performance, McIlroy showed resilience in his recovery shots,

01:24and maintained poise as the leaderboard slipped away.

01:27Having last played the event in 2015 and won in 2013, he was impressed by the enthusiastic crowds,

01:34noting,

01:35I couldn't believe how many people were there.

01:38Ironically, the course McIlroy labeled as the city's finest, Kingston Heath, won't host this week's drama.

01:44That role belongs to Royal Melbourne, a venue that, for one windy afternoon,

01:48offered a vivid rebuttal to the race to Dubai champions' critique.

01:52Whether McIlroy mounts a charge in calmer conditions remains to be seen.

01:56But one thing is clear, Royal Melbourne doesn't just test your game, it tests your judgment.