PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Six years is a long time to wait, but as Rory McIlroy stepped onto the first tee box at Royal Portrush on Thursday and the loud, but nervous cheers from the heavy Northern Ireland crowd washed over him, the time that had passed since The Open took place here in 2019 appeared to be just enough.
“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,” McIlroy said after an opening-round, 1-under 70. “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.”
The opening tee shot at Portrush is a gauntlet, with out of bounds on either side of its 70-yard-wide fairway. In 2019, McIlroy said he was affected by the emotion surrounding his return to his home country and proceeded to make a mess of the hole. He carded a quadruple-bogey 8 en route to an opening-round 79 and went on to miss the cut.
An older, more prepared and more successful McIlroy emerged Thursday on Hole 1, taking his time to read the wind, double-check his yardage book, swing his driving iron and most importantly, get the ball in play.
“I didn’t feel like I was walking into the unknown this time around, where last time I hadn’t experienced that before. I hadn’t played an Open at home. I didn’t know how I was going to feel,” McIlroy said after his round. “I didn’t know the reaction I was going to get, where this time I had a better idea of what was going to be coming my way.”
Though he missed the fairway, McIlroy was able to limit the damage to a bogey this time around. Missing fairways would be part of the story of his first round — the reigning Masters champion hit only two of 14 — but in response, McIlroy was able to scramble exceptionally well. By the 10th hole, he was 3 under par and near the top of the leaderboard.
His errant play off the tee eventually caught up with him as he played the next four holes in 3 over. But when it appeared that McIlroy was set to record another disappointing opening round, he rallied, turning 16 and 17 into birdie holes and making par on the last to stay under par heading into Friday.
“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,” McIlroy said. “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.”
Throughout the day, the home crowd did its best to will McIlroy forward. Chants of “Come on, Rory!” and “Let’s go Rory!” could be heard throughout the grounds.
McIlroy, who said earlier this week that he was planning on embracing the adulation more this time around, called the reception “absolutely incredible.” After finishing his round, McIlroy was surprised to see that the leaders were still at 4 under par, which put him in an ideal position to chase when he heads back out onto the course Friday morning.
“Only three back with 54 holes to go,” McIlroy said. “I’m really happy with where I am.”