Portrush, Northern Ireland – Six years is a long time, but it seemed enough of the 2019 opening days had passed as Rory McIlroy stepped into the Royal Portrush first teebox on Thursday, and tense cheers from the Northern Ireland crowd washed away him.
“Look, I feel the support of the whole country there. This is a great position, but at the same time, you don’t want to disappoint them,” McIlroy said after a 1-under 70 in the opening round.
The opening t-shirt, filmed in Portrush, is a gauntlet with no boundaries on either side of the 70-yard fairway. In 2019, McIlroy said he continued to disrupt the hole, influenced by the emotions surrounding his return to his home country. He missed the cut with eight cards on his way to opening round 79.
An older, more prepared and more successful McIlroy appears in No. 1 on Thursday, read the wind, double check the yard books, shake the driving iron, and, most importantly, play the ball.
“This time I didn’t feel like I stepped into something unknown. I had never experienced it before last. I wasn’t playing an open at home. I didn’t know what would happen,” McIlroy said after the round. “I didn’t know what reaction I was trying to get. This time I thought better what would come in my way.”
He missed the fairway, but McIlroy was able to limit bogie damage this time. The lack of fairways is part of his first round story, with the real-life Masters champion hitting only two out of 14 – but accordingly, McIlroy was able to scramble very well. By hole 10 he was 3 under par and near the top of the leaderboard.
His incorrect play eventually caught up with him when he played the next four holes in the 3. However, when McIlroy appeared to be set to record another unfortunate opening round, he gathered, turning 16 and 17 into birdie holes and making a par for the final time and staying on Friday.
“Like we headed home, played 10 and then went back and played 11, we turned towards the house and the wind picked up a bit. “It was a tough day enough, especially for the most part, to cut out from the rough or separate it from the fairway bunker. So filming on par was a good effort.”
All day long, the home crowd tried their best to move forward. We were able to hear the chant “Come, Lori!” and the “Let’s go to Lori!” throughout the premises.
Earlier this week, McIlroy said he plans to accept even more praise, this time called the “absolutely incredible” reception. After the round, McIlroy was surprised that the leader was still at 4 under par.
“There are only three holes with 54 holes,” McIlroy said. “I’m really happy where I am.”