Six-Hour Round Sparks Pace-of-Play Complaints at Irish Open

Rory McIlroy's opening round at the Amgen Irish Open took 6 hours and 6 minutes to complete on Thursday, prompting complaints from multiple players about the pace of play at Trump International Doonbeg.

What caused the slow play?

McIlroy's group, which also included Robert MacIntyre and Brooks Koepka, teed off at 1:35 p.m. local time and did not finish until 7:41 p.m. A one-tee start for the 138-player field, wet and windy conditions, and a 20-minute rules delay involving Erik van Rooyen all added to the length of the round. McIlroy called it the longest round of his nearly two-decade professional career. Scotsman Ewen Ferguson, playing a separate group, said afterward that fatigue and a lapse in concentration from the slow pace led to late mistakes in his own round, adding that a round of golf should not take that long.

A one-tee start, a rules delay and heavy weather combined to turn a routine Thursday into the longest round of McIlroy's career.

How is McIlroy playing in his title defense?

McIlroy, defending his 2025 Irish Open victory, opened with a double bogey at the par-4 14th on Thursday before recovering for a 69. He went off early on Friday in calmer weather, made a kick-in eagle at the par-5 8th and a birdie at 17, but two back-nine bogeys and eight missed putts inside 12 feet limited him to another 69 and two-under for the tournament.

“I can’t recall a round of golf that has taken that long before,” McIlroy said.

That leaves him four shots behind leader Shane Lowry, who carded a course-record 62 in round two to reach 11-under. Doonbeg, originally designed by Greg Norman and reworked by Martin Hawtree in 2014, has produced sloping, difficult-to-read greens all week. McIlroy is hoping tougher, wetter conditions forecast for Saturday will favor his ball-striking, which he rates as the strongest part of his game this week, as he chases his fellow Irishman over the weekend.