Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry speak out about Irish Open crowds with thoughts very clear

Rory McIlroy has made his feelings clear about fans at the Irish Open following a frustrating opening round for the Masters champion, whose group was put on a shot clock

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have both hailed fans’ support after attracting huge galleries at the Irish Open.

The pair were the biggest draws during the first round at a rain-swept K Club, where McIlroy posted a one-under-par 71 and Lowry a three-under 69. Nacho Elvira, Thorbjorn Olesen and Romain Langasque led the way on six under.

There was frustration for McIlroy, who was on three under with three holes to play, only to bogey 16 and 18. The Masters champion’s group, which also featured Triston Lawrence and Kristoffer Reitan, was put on a shock clock for slow play and felt rushed as a result.

However, McIlroy was grateful to the crowd for their backing. He said: “It’s been amazing. It’s great every time I come back and play in this tournament. The crowds are unbelievable and it’s obviously a pleasure to play in front of them. They create a great atmosphere.”

Lowry agreed, saying: “Yeah, they’re great. The Irish crowds are great. We obviously had that at the Open [at Portrush] a few weeks ago as well.

“It was really nice. It’s nice to play well in front of them as well, and hopefully I can keep playing all right and give them something to cheer about come Sunday.”

Due to large crowds which followed his group, McIlroy felt the shot clock decision was overly harsh. He said: “In all honesty, I felt a little rushed out there for the last 12 holes. We got put on the clock pretty early.

“And then the first official went away and then we were put on the clock for the last three holes to try to make time up.

“And it’s hard because you feel a bit rushed, you’re playing some tough holes and we obviously, our group, have to deal with a lot more than any other group on the course. So it’s understandable that we lose time.”

McIlroy, who is actually regarded as a quick player, added: “I feel like any time I either come back to Europe or I play in some of these like one, two, three in the world type groups, we’re always put on the clock for that reason.

“So I got a little frustrated the last few holes because I feel like it always happens and I don’t think they use sort of common sense in terms of, well, of course we’re going to lose ground because we’re going to have to wait on crowds and wait on the two camera crews that are out there.

“And, you know, there’s just a lot more going on with our group than any of the other groups on the course, and sometimes I feel like they have to give us a little bit of leeway and use a bit of common sense.”

McIlroy begins his second round at 1pm, while Lowry, who is playing with Brooks Koepka and Martin Couvra, tees off 10 minutes earlier.