Italian Open: At the DS Automobiles Italian Open, Matt Fitzpatrick was in first place after the first day marred by weather, while Rory McIlroy also impressed after a sluggish start.
At Marco Simone GC, Fitzpatrick was three holes from finishing his round at five under par when play was halted due to poor lighting, just hours after lightning delayed the start of the first round earlier in the day.
The US Open winner gained ground at the second and seventh holes before completing his week without a blemish and gaining ground with three straight birdies starting at the eleventh.
Setting up a third birdie in as many holes 👏 @MattFitz94 takes the lead. #DS79OpendItalia pic.twitter.com/jeQmlVSFsf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 15, 2022
Fitzpatrick will return on Friday at 7.30 a.m. local time (6.30 a.m. GMT) to finish his opening round. The Englishman will resume play with a one-shot lead over a group of eight men, including McIlroy, who are all four under par.
“It was really annoying,” Fitzpatrick said after being unable to finish. “I was trying to push us on as fast as possible, but the rest of the field is obviously playing a bit slower. Especially when you have a good round, you just want to keep going, but it is what it is.”
With five and two holes remaining, respectively, Joost Luiten and Alvaro Quiros are both one shot off the lead. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy played up to his pre-tournament hype by scoring an eagle and three birdies over his final seven holes to record a four-under 67.
McIlroy struggled to a three-putt par at the 12th, nearly holed out from the rough on the tenth, his first hole of the day, and cancelled out a close-range birdie at the 16th by missing a five-footer to save par at the 17th.
A hole-out eagle from the third fairway sparked a surge up the leaderboard, with a 12-foot birdie at the fifth and back-to-back gains from the eighth. The runner-up in last week’s BMW PGA Championship then holed a 20-footer at the 18th to avoid another bogey before the third-fairway eagle sparked the surge.
“That eagle obviously ignited something and sort of kick-started my round a little bit and I played some really good golf on the way in. I can’t complain, I played the more difficult nine well today and the easier nine not so well. I just need to tidy up a few things going into the next few days.”
Eddie Pepperell, Scott Jamieson, Antoine Rozner, Adri Arnaus, and Gavin Green are also all at four under, while captain Luke Donald is three down with four holes left in his round and defending champion Nicolai Hojgaard is two back.
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