'Not this' Rory McIlroy makes shock admission after R1 of Olympic Golf Tournament
Rory McIlroy opened with a solid 3-under 68 and then revealed his shock at the attendance during the first round of the Olympics Golf Tourmament at Le Golf National in Paris.
Rory McIlroy got off to a "solid start" at the 2024 Olympics Golf Tournament and then revealed his state of shock at just how many spectators came out to watch the first round at Le Golf National.
McIlroy, 35, was expecting a fair number of fans to descend onto the 2018 Ryder Cup venue over the weekend but not quite so many on Thursday and Friday.
It was estimated by renowned golf reporter Doug Ferguson that around 25,000 fans followed the star-studded three-ball of McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg in the first round.
GolfMagic provided live text updates of the first round of the Olympic Golf Tournament.
Scheffler narrowly came out on top in the three-ball after carding a 4-under 68, which was one shot better than both McIlroy and Aberg, who went round in 3-under 67s.
But it's Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama who has burst out the blocks quickest after 18 holes.
Matsuyama, who won his sole major to date at the 2021 Masters, fired a flawless 8-under 63 to open up a two-shot lead over defending Olympic champion and this season's two-time major winner Xander Schauffele (65).
McIlroy therefore finds himself five shots off the pace with 54 holes left to play.
"It was okay, it's a solid start," McIlroy, who is representing Ireland this week, told a pool of reporters after the first round.
"A bit up and down to be expected. I didn't do a whole lot between The Open and here (he went on holiday to Portugal).
"Some good, some not so good. A solid opening round, a little disappointing with the three-putt at the last, but overall, as I said, a solid start and something to build on."
McIlroy will look to nudge himself up the board on Friday when he gets underway in the same three-ball at 12.06pm local time.
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As for the crowd following his group around Le Golf National on Thursday, the four-time major champion could not believe his eyes, especially for a first round.
"Unbelievable," he said of the fans. "It was surprising. With so many events going on spread all across the city, for people to venture out here and to watch us play, it was a really cool atmosphere to play in."
When pressed further on what he was expecting on Thursday, McIlroy replied:
"Not this. I thought the weekend might get a few more people. I thought the first couple of days might be a little quiet but it was awesome."
McIlroy is making his second appearance in the Olympics having also represented Ireland at the 2020 Tokyo Games, which was eventually staged in 2021 due to the Covid lockdown.
Related: Photo of Rory with his wife at Olympics draws mixed reaction
One reporter then asked McIlroy to compare his two Olympic experiences thus far.
Chalk and cheese comes to mind.
"Tokyo was a ghost town," he said.
"Yeah, this was much better. I mean, I think the crowd support that we all got out there was amazing.
"Obviously there's a few more flags and there's a bit more, I don't know what the word is, like nationalism.
"But we were all really well supported out there. It was great to see."
McIlroy added: "I'd say maybe 25% were move of a casual crowd or sports crowd rather than a golf crowd. It's nice to play in front of that because it provides a bit more energy."
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