PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy had a long wait before he got to the first tee on Thursday—after 3 p.m. locally—so there was plenty of time to ponder how things might unfold at Royal Portrush, where he was to again play in the British Open in his home country.
The last time, six years ago, things did not go so well. McIlroy hit his opening tee shot out of bounds and made a first-hole 8, ruining his homecoming and requiring a huge Friday rally to make the cut that came up short.
McIlroy has said numerous times that he was unprepared for the emotional toll such a momentous occasion, the Open in his homeland, would produce.
This time, it was different. While McIlroy bogeyed the first hole Thursday afternoon, he played a steady, if not spectacular round of golf, one that could have been better but also one that leaves him squarely in contention after the first day of the 153rd Open.
“Absolutely incredible,” McIlroy said after a 1-under-par 70 saw him three shots back of the leaders. “Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don’t want to let them down. So there’s that little bit of added pressure.
“I felt 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.
“I was sort of surprised—there’s a few guys at 4 under, but I’m surprised 4 under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot 6 or 7 today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I’m really happy with where I am.”
McIlroy, the Masters champion who has won three times this year on the PGA Tour, trails five players who shot 67, 4 under par: Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, who won the British Amateur last year, was the first to get to the clubhouse at that score and was followed by China’s Haotong Li, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and American Harris English.
Three-time major champion Scottie Scheffler is in a group at 3 under, a shot back, along with Tyrrell Hatton followed by six more players at 2 under, including Open runner-up from last year Justin Rose and twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard.
There were 19 players who shot scores in the 60s on an inconsistent weather day that saw plenty of wind, rain and confusion.
McIlroy’s round took 5 hours and 55 minutes along with Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood.
“Yeah, it was good,” McIlroy said. “I had it going 3 under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well, played the last four at 1 under, and it was nice to shoot under par.
“I felt like, once we turned for home, like played 10 and turned back and played 11, the wind picked up a little bit, and it just became that little bit more difficult. Yeah, it was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort.”
McIlroy is one of 20 players tied at 1 under par.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pleasing an Adoring Home Crowd, Rory McIlroy Starts Under Par at British Open.