McIlroy right at home in County Down
Holywood golfer lurks on the Irish Open leaderboard; Czech wins U.S. Women's Mid-Am
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy feels right at home at Royal County Down (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Sitting a 5-under, Englishman Todd Clements leads the Amgen Irish Open by a shot over Spain’s Alejandro Dell Rey and Finland’s Sami Välimäki.
But when they look around, they know they have trouble lurking. At 3-under par and just two back of the lead is a local who grew up just an hour down the road and seems to have the bit in his teeth this week.
Rory McIlroy is that local, and what would be considered a lackluster performance through 15 holes took a startling turnaround with two birdies on the last three to move from 22th on the leaderboard into tie for fourth through the first round at venerable Royal County Down.
For McIlroy, the first-round score is a combination of a solid swing and intimate knowledge of RCD.
“I think I know this place well enough that I know the right side to miss it, and I think that was one of the things I did well today,” the 2016 Irish Open champion said of his opening round. “Even when I did miss it, I missed it in the right spots where I was able to either get it up-and-down or have a decent next shot or a chance at a next shot.”
McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic out of the gate in 2024 and the Wells Fargo Championship in mid-season just after teaming up with fellow Irishman Shane lowry to win the Zurich Classic. But his game has struggled at times since, specifically with left-to-right winds. Since the conclusion of the Tour Championship, where he finished tied ninth with Lowry, McIlroy has been working on rectifying his left-to-right issue.
On Thursday, in windy conditions at the Newcastle links, McIlroy controlled his ball flight and worked to incorporate what he had been working on. He declared the initial test of his amended swing a success, being able to control the ball flight when he needed to.
Another difference and a reason that McIlroy believes his first-round performance was so positive was not staying at or near the venue but an hour away in his hometown of Holywood versus the Slieve Donard, which is a resort immediately next door to Royal County Down.
“I think it's felt different staying at home; I feel a bit detached from the golf tournament,” McIlroy said. “Today I woke up, and usually when you're at a tournament site — like if I was staying at the Slieve Donard there — you can hear people announced on the first tee. And maybe the first thing you do is check your phone and see how the boys started off and check the leaderboard. Staying an hour away, I’ve felt detached from the tournament this week, which has been quite a nice thing and haven’t been so wrapped up in it, which is quite nice. Probably the reason why I started well, I would say.”
A tweaked swing, reasonable commute and returning to a course McIlroy knows so well, the world No. 3 is in a solid place for the next three rounds. A win for McIlroy would validate his changes, but even a top-10 with a swing he feels comfortable with would make the week a success.
“It’s hard to go very low, but if you can manage your way around, even if you don’t have your game, you can make a lot of pars,” McIlroy said in his analysis of the week. “So I think it’s going to be one of these tournaments where you know there’s probably going to be a lot of people in with a chance going in to Sunday. Just the nature of the golf course and how it plays.”
Royal County Down (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Global Golf Post’s Ron Green Jr. attended the media day at Royal County Down last month and wrote about what subjectively may be the greatest golf course in the world and how it’s popularity grew from word of mouth from passionate pilgrims who braved The Troubles to experience the Northern Irish gem.
“It was pilgrims who came here in the early ’90s to play the golf course,” Whitson said. “There was still the backdrop to The Troubles. They were kind of brave golfers. They were in Dublin, and they were saying we’re going to go up, and they would shoot up and then shoot away back again after a round of golf. They were the ones who went out and spread the word to the world.”
“The three Harmon brothers, I first came across them here in ’94. They found it, came here to play and they went home, and it was Butch Harmon’s favorite place in the world. He’s now a member. He’s done a huge amount to promote the place.”
Turn on Peacock for the Irish Open right now (and all weekend) to see what all the fuss is about.
Czechia’s Hana Ryskova is only the second international winner of U.S. Women’s Mid-Am (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Ryskova Czechs off Women’s Mid-Am
WEST NEWTON, Mass. (USGA) — As she prepared for the first round of stroke play in the 37th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Brae Burn Country Club, Lindsay Gahm saw a familiar University of Louisville golf bag near the practice green.
The bag belonged to Hana Ryskova, the native of the Czech Republic having just completed her college golf career and her MBA at the Kentucky school. Gahm, 32, a lifelong Louisville resident, introduced herself and they found out they live about 10 minutes apart. Five days later, after five rounds of grueling match play, No. 6 seed Ryskova and No. 12 seed Gahm met again, in Thursday’s 18-hole championship final.
It turned out to be Ryskova’s day, as the 25-year-old never trailed, taking the lead for good on the par-3 sixth hole, then reeling off four wins in five holes to seal a 5-and-4 victory over Gahm, who struggled with her speed most of the day on the testing Donald Ross greens. The long-hitting Ryskova birdied all three par 5s on the incoming nine (Nos. 10, 13 and 14) en route to victory.
“The trophy was coming back to Louisville, no matter what, so we knew it was going to be special,” said Ryskova during the closing ceremony. Her boyfriend, Ethan Short, has caddied for Ryskova all week and she noted on Wednesday that, “It’s a dream come true. We started dating almost three years ago, and he loves to play. For him being here and caddying for me, we are here mainly just for the memories, and they’re just getting better and better every day.”
Ryskova becomes the first golfer from the Czechia to capture a USGA championship. The native of Frydek-Mistek, about 9 miles south of the regional capital of Ostrava near the borders of Poland and Slovakia, had an outstanding junior career, finishing seventh in the 2014 World Junior Girls Championship and competing for her country five times in the European Team Championship and twice in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. She reached as high as No. 106 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking and went on the earn ACC academic honors twice at Louisville and earned her MBA in May.
A golf irrigation sales manager, Gahm tries to keep her game sharp around work and the demands of motherhood with a 5-month-old son. She typically plays once a week and was thrilled to reach the final in her third U.S. Women’s Mid-Am start, having survived her round-of-16 match with Canada’s Judith Kyrinis by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to extend it, then winning in 19 holes. Kyrinis, 60, was the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion.
“I’m just grateful to be here,” said Gahm, who reached the round of 16 in 2022. “I haven’t been playing much golf since having our baby. I really didn’t have any expectations; just getting here to the final was a dream come true. Really happy for Hana, though. She played solid today. She’s a great person and a fierce competitor.”
Ryskova is exempt into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs, the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open.
“I just need to tell my future employer that I need some PTO” for the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes, said Ryskova. “We were looking at the sites, and I’ve never been to Wisconsin or Oregon. I’m just super excited. It’s a big thing just to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in general. And for the U.S. Open, dream come true. I’m an amateur. I didn’t really want to turn pro ever. It's just a good experience to go as an amateur and play that tournament.”
When asked what she was most looking forward to in competing at Erin Hills next summer, Ryskova mentioned Nelly Korda, whose father, Petr, is a Czech native and a standout tennis professional who won the 1998 Australian Open.
“Obviously I would love to play with Nelly, but in general, I’m there as a player and I want to focus on my game,” said Ryskova. “I always wanted to play with [three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion] Annika Sörenstam, because she’s European and people say I sound like her, look like her. So it would be a dream to talk to her and play with her, but obviously she’s probably not going to be there.”
Ryskova becomes the second international player to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur title, joining Mary Ann Lapointe (now Hayward) of Canada, who won in 2005. Ryskova defeated three fellow international players on the way to the final. She defeated Alexandra Vilatte Farret of France in a record-tying 22 holes in Wednesday’s semifinal, having extended the match with a winning par on the par-4 18th hole.