Rory McIlroy, sans driver, shoots opening 69 at India event

Oct 16, 2025, 07:12 AM ET

Rory McIlroy’s decision to leave the driver in his locker did not affect his ability to score as he carded six birdies around the narrow Delhi Golf Club but was let down by three bogeys in the opening round of the DP World India Championship.

The world No. 2 got off to an ideal start by chipping in from the fringe at his first hole, the 10th, but his difficulties began at No. 11, where he three-putted, before he failed to get up and down for back-to-back bogeys.

Despite the absence of the longest club in his bag, McIlroy had no problems birdieing the two par-5s to make the turn at 1 under, and he picked up three more shots over the next seven holes.

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However, he bogeyed the 522-yard eighth to finish with a 3-under 69, four behind clubhouse leader Keita Nakajima.

“Dog [driver] was out of the bag, probably asleep in the locker. I was sort of thinking about it last night before I went to bed,” McIlroy said of his club selection in his postround interview. “Sometimes if you’re really conservative off a par-5 today, you might have like a 5-wood into the green, but I’m never going to hit driver. So I just thought I’ve got to 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron all the way through, and then I’ve got a 5-wood just in case I need to hit it for an approach shot on a par-5.”

McIlroy said the course was still “pretty tricky” despite the limited length needed off the tee.

“You’re just really trying to be as conservative as possible off the tee and then trying to pick off birdies on the par-5s and maybe pick up a couple more,” he said.

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