Rory McIlroy "wants to punch himself" after nightmare start to Open Championship 2019

Rory McIlroy shot a nightmare 79 at his home Open today and admitted: “I would like to punch myself.”
The Ulsterman started with a quadruple bogey eight when he hooked his opening tee shot out of bounds and hit a female spectator.

He steadied the ship mid-round but missed a one-foot putt on the 16th on his way to a double bogey and finished with a triple-bogey seven.

At eight-over par, the world No.3 is 12 shots off the clubhouse lead held by fellow Irishman Shane Lowry .

“I would like to punch myself,” McIlroy said. “I made a couple of stupid mistakes. I was pretty nervous on the first tee and hit a bad shot.

"I showed some resilience in the middle of the round and was trying to fight back into the championship but then I finished off poorly as well.

"But seven over par combined on the first and last holes makes it very hard for you.

"I hit my first shot out of bounds yesterday but it went right so that might have been in my head a little bit. I turned the ball over a little too much. It was a poor tee shot but not that bad it deserved to go out of bounds.

"If I look back I undid all my good work to recover on the last three holes. Missing that short putt on the 16th was inexcusable.

"At the end of the day I play golf to fulfill my ambitions not anyone else's but I wish I could have given the crowd something to cheer about.

"I let myself down more than anyone else and need to pick myself back up."