PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – There was no first-tee horror or opening-round meltdown this time.
Determined to be better prepared than when he faceplanted in front of the home fans at Royal Portrush in 2019, McIlroy began this 153rd Open with a 1-under 70 – nine strokes better than six years ago – that left him just three shots off the early pace.
Six years ago, McIlroy imploded early with a first-tee hook that hopped out of bounds and led to a stunning quadruple bogey and Thursday 79. At the time, he said that he was taken aback by the overwhelming support of the partisan crowd, rooting on their favorite son who grew up about an hour away, in Holywood.
The support seemed even more immense this year, after McIlroy cemented his legendary status this spring by completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters. He arrived on the tee to a raucous ovation and went around Portrush hailed by fans who at times stood 10 rows deep.
“I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in,” McIlroy said. “But at the same time, you don’t want to let them down. So there’s that little bit of added pressure.
“I feel like I dealt with it really well today – certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.”
McIlroy began with a bogey (after a short miss) but rebounded nicely and sat 3 under through his first 10 holes. As he turned for home, the wind began whipping on Portrush’s more difficult back nine, and he racked up three quick bogeys in the crosswinds. But McIlroy said he was proud of how he steadied himself, particularly with an important up-and-down from a tricky spot right of 15 green, and then he converted a 12-footer for birdie after getting out of position.
Indeed, for the second week in a row, McIlroy struggled to put the ball in play off the tee. It likely cost him the title at the Scottish Open, where he lost strokes off the tee and was bailed out by a sharp iron game and timely putting.
No player in the field hit fewer than his two fairways on Thursday, one of which came with an iron. For the day, he ranked 131st out of 156 players in the field in strokes gained.
“It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time,” McIlroy said. “So to shoot under par was a good effort. … I’m really happy with where I am.”
