Doonbeg turned Thursday’s opening round of the Irish Open into a test of patience as much as skill. Shane Lowry, playing in a group behind Rory McIlroy, caught up with him multiple times. On another hole, McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, were sitting on the tee box, leaning their backs against the wall. Multiple times as many as three groups of players were waiting on the same tee box. Little wonder the pros were baffled by the languid day and were miffed at the snail-like pace of play.

Speaking to the media after shooting a 3-under 70, Shane Lowry said, “It’s hard when you’re playing a round of golf and it takes six hours. It’s hard to get into the rhythm of things… I honestly didn’t think we were going to get finished. That’s probably the longest round of golf I ever played, in a three-ball anyway. I’m happy with my score.”

Lowry played the opening round of the Amgen Irish Open alongside Patrick Reed and Jon Rahm, teeing off at 1:45 p.m. local time. Despite the challenges, Lowry carded a 67, good enough for a share of second place behind Joaquin Niemann, who shot a course-record 65. When he finished his round, galleries were almost empty. Lowry was not the only Irishman fighting the clock, nor the longest day for that matter.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy needed three and a half hours just to make the turn. He was playing alongside Robert MacIntyre and Brooks Koepka. At one point, the group caught up with Sergio Garcia, who was playing a group ahead. McIlroy and Garcia were chatting and smiling. But when he finished the round, the Ulsterman was drained.

“I can’t recall a round of golf that has taken that long before,” the defending champion said. “We’ve had some rounds that are five-and-a-half or five-and-three-quarter hours, but six hours is a first for me.”

It was a first for many pros. According to a report in the Irish Times, 21 pros were left to finish their round, including Liam Nolan, who teed off at 3:10 PM local time but still had five holes left to play when the round was halted. While swirling wind gusts were one part of it, that was hardly the only reason.

Wind. Rules Dispute. Lost Balls. And Six-Hour Rounds.

Gusts tore across the links throughout the day. Tee boxes backed up, and groups crawled around the course for hours, much longer than usual. Moreover, balls were oscillating on the green. Sergio Garcia was visibly unhappy on the eighth hole and reportedly wanted the play to be stopped.

Jon Rahm, meanwhile, lost his cool after his birdie putt was swept by the wind. “Are you f**king serious?” yelled the Spaniard after missing the hole. On top of that, multiple pros missed the fairway and landed in the dunes and bushes, which led to delays for searching for the ball.

Then came a 20-minute rules dispute

Erik Van Rooyen teed off at 8:25 AM local time and shortly afterward got embroiled in a rules debate. His shot went wide, and after a 20-minute discussion with the rules official, the matter was settled. Van Rooyen went on to make a double on the par-5 8th and eventually ended with a 3-over 73.

Seamus Power, who was playing on the group behind Rooyen, said on the 4th hole, three groups were waiting at one point, and it was already 3 hours and 15 minutes by the time they hit the tee shot on the 10th. Padraig Harrington, playing the group behind Power, made another point.

“As slow as the round was today, it’s a bit like rush-hour traffic in bad driving conditions. It’s just that everything sort of slows down, and it really is a traffic management thing rather than anything else. When players see that they’re going nowhere in front of them, then they’re going to take more time themselves, and the conditions were difficult; you had to mark your ball from 18 inches for sure on the greens.”

Every player started from the same tee

Moreover, a split-tee start was not possible due to logistical challenges in Doonbeg. So everyone in the 138-man field started from the first tee. It didn’t afford the gap between morning and afternoon waves that a split tee (1st and 10th) start offers. That caused another problem as every group started catching up with the group ahead of them.

“It’s just a one-tee start, [which] doesn’t help,” Senior Tournament Director Miguel Viador was quoted by the Irish Times as saying. “There’s no space out on the golf course. There’s nothing we can do. We can’t really time players because there’s no space for us to do anything. So it’s just a combination of fatal things. But it is what it is. There’s nothing we can do.”

Doonbeg, due to its relatively small area, is also difficult to navigate for 138 pros and countless fans. Viador also admitted as much. While it remains to be seen what happens on the next three rounds, when the attendance is going to be higher, the leaderboard currently is no less packed.

Joaquin Niemann leads with Lowry and McIlroy chasing

Joaquin Niemann shot a course record 65 to take a four-shot lead into Friday. He made four straight birdies. Lowry, meanwhile, made birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th holes. He then absorbed bogeys at the 7th and 9th to turn in 34. But the back nine settled into pure grinding. He managed to add one more birdie at the 14th and then closed with a nervy tap-in from 11 inches on the 18th green to secure his par and sign for a 3-under 67.

He shared his approach to the longest round he dealt with. “Look, you knew going out that you needed to make some birdies early on on those par-5s that were downwind,” he said. “I felt like I did that. Then when I turned around, I felt like I did a solid job of making pars and trying to get to the clubhouse as quick as I could.”

On the other hand, McIlroy opened with two birdies inside his first four holes and splashed out of a bunker for his second birdie at the par-five 4th but missed a ten-footer at 7th. However, McIlroy’s round turned choppier on the back nine.

He found a fairway bunker at the 13th and missed from 10 feet, making it a double bogey that briefly halted his progress. But he was quick to catch up on momentum as he made a sharp birdie at the 15th to pull a shot back.

Now between these two Irishmen, Thursday’s round at Doonbeg became less about who scored best and more about who could outlast the wind. Both leave day one within reach of the top, still three rounds to play.