Rory McIlroy lands shot in a swimming pool as slump continues in heavy match-play loss to Ian Poulter

Rory McIlroy was soundly beaten by Ian Poulter in his opening matchplay tie. Image creidt: PA.

March 24 2021 04:44 PM

Rory McIlroy has work to do emerge from his group and his current slump after he was hammered 6&5 by a clinical Ian Poulter in his first round-robin match at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Texas.

After fighting back from three down after the fifth, where he drove into a swimming pool, to one down with 10 holes to go, he lost the next five holes, with the last straw coming when he chipped into the water and bogeyed the driveable 13th.

The world No 11 might have officially appointed Pete Cowen to his coaching team but he was clearly outplayed by his Ryder Cup team-mate, who was an estimated four-under-par to McIlroy’s two-over for the holes played.

Speaking about McIlroy’s new coaching move, Poulter said:

“Obviously, Pete’s going to be working exclusively with Rory on his game. I think there’s a couple of areas of his game which I’m sure he wants to kind of firm up a little bit and obviously, he missed a couple of tee shots left. From that point, he was trying to hit a kind of a bit of a hold-up cut.

“But it’s Rory, it doesn’t take a lot for Rory to spark up pretty quickly and I wasn’t surprised with anything, I just felt that I kind of, I had done a pretty decent job of putting him under pressure, I made it difficult for him.”

"I played well and obviously the score line's pretty flattering to be honest with you. But I kept Rory under pressure and I made it difficult for him. Yeah, he hit a couple of loose shots, but putting the ball in pretty tight and taking control of a match, I had to do that against Rory."

No 11 seed McIlroy found himself trailing straight away when Poulter rolled in a six-footer for birdie at the first at Austin Country Club

The Co Down man had to hole an eight putter to avoid three-putting and earn a half in par at the next, then missed a 15-footer for a win at the third before losing the next two holes to go three down.

He three-putted the 185-yard fourth from 15 feet, lipping out with a four-footer for par, then drove out of bounds at the 350 yard fifth, where his tee shot ended up in the swimming pool of a home overlooking the course.

He won back a hole at the 598-yard sixth when Poulter overshot the green with his third and made bogey, then had a let-off at the 183-yard sixth where he got up and down from greenside sand for par as the Englishman missed a 10 footer to go three up again.

Poulter was giving up considerable distance off the tee and McIlroy took advantage at the 498-yard seventh, firing an exquisite 165-yard approach to three feet to win the hole after his opponent missed green from 50 yards further back.

That didn’t deter Poulter, who was 42 yards behind McIlroy off the tee at the ninth but hit a glorious 178-yard approach to eight feet and made the putt to turn two-up after watching the Holywood star narrowly miss from 45 feet.

At the 10th, McIlroy had a chance to get close but screwed a 94-yard wedge off the front of the green, then knocked his chip 10 feet past and missed the return to find himself three down again.

He was soon four down with six to play when he missed the green left at the 182-yard 11th and Poulter made a 17 footer for a two.

The Postman went five-up with six to play at the 587-yard 12th, firing a 264-yard four-iron to eight feet to set up an eagle that McIlroy conceded after missing the green with his second and third and failing to chip in for birdie.

The advantage was six holes when McIlroy drove over the back of the 288-yard 13th but lost the hole to a par four as his speedy chip ran into the water and made bogey to lose his opening round-robin match 6 and 5.