McIlroy banged in putts of 20 and seven feet
respectively at the final two holes in near darkness at Torrey
Pines to boost his chances of at least having a chance to end a
seven-year major championship winning drought.
Never mind that he could barely see the hole, he struck his
uphill birdie putt at the 18th with such conviction that it
banged against the back of the cup at speed and fell in.
"The birdie is awesome," said a delighted Northern Irishman of
his effort at the last.
"I mean, that putt was pretty, I was sort of like, I think it's
straight, I'll hit it straight and we'll see.
"But, yeah, it was nice to get in, get an extra hour of sleep
tonight and it was a bonus to birdie in as well."
He was one of the last players to finish the round, with 36
others having to return early on Friday to complete the final
few holes, a result of a morning fog delay of minutes that
backed up the afternoon tee times.
McIlroy badly needed a solid start after shooting himself out of
contention before he had barely started at the year's previous
two majors.
He shot an opening 76 and subsequently missed the cut at the
Masters, while at the PGA Championship he opened with 75 and
never in the hunt en route to a tie for 49th.
(Reporting by Andrew Both; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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