By Martyn Herman
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -It was ugly at times and he barely located a fairway but Rory McIlroy’s homecoming party at Royal Portrush this time did not go as flat as a pint of stale Guinness as he scrambled to an opening-round 70 at the British Open on Thursday.
Six years after putting his opening tee shot out of bounds and racking up a quadruple bogey on his way to dream-wrecking round of 79, five-times major champion McIlroy returned to the Dunluce Links intent on banishing the demons of 2019.
There were magical moments for the massed galleries who braved the Atlantic showers to roar on the local hero, but mostly it was a grind for the 36-year-old who arrived this week sporting the Green Jacket from this year’s Masters win.
That the Northern Irishman walked off the 18th green on one under par, only three shots off the lead and very much in the mix for his second Open title, 11 years after his first, was a victory in itself.
“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 said.
He hit only two fairways and was 154th out of the 156 starters for driving accuracy but conjured five birdies and avoided any of the calamities lurking on an unforgiving course.
“I felt like I dealt with it really well today,” said McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam by winning the Masters this year to snap an 11-year major drought.
“Certainly, I dealt with it better than I did six years ago. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I’m happy with where I am.
“I knew what to expect. So I think just having that experience of six years ago was definitely helpful.”
Teeing off in light afternoon breezes alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood and American Justin Thomas, the earlier starters felt like a warm-up act ahead of the appearance of the player born in Holywood, 60 miles south of Portrush.
Huge crowds hugged the fairways of the treacherous opening hole and there were sighs of relief and a puffing of cheeks when his tee shot only veered off into the left rough, although opening with a bogey did dampen the mood.
A wild drive at the par-five second went even further left down a steep bank and McIlroy had a face like thunder as he arrived at his ball which was encircled by fans.
After long deliberations with Harry Diamond, his caddie, McIlroy opted for pragmatism and laid up before a superb approach set up a birdie chance which he holed.
CURLING PUTT
A safe par at the fourth despite another leaked tee shot was followed by his second birdie of the day on the fifth, where after under-hitting his chip he sank a curling uphill putt.
Despite the clouds returning above, McIlroy began to sparkle and his majestic approach at the 608-yard par-five seventh was a thing of beauty, setting up a tap-in birdie.
A solid par at the par-four ninth where his playing partners both dropped shots sent McIlroy bounding into the home stretch and he moved to within one stroke of the overall lead with a birdie at the 10th after another exquisite approach.
Momentum was building and the crowd were buzzing but as the pace of play became glacial, McIlroy’s charge cooled off.
Tangly rough greeted his tee shot at the treacherous par-four 11th and this time he could not salvage par as he misread a putt.
He found sand with his tee shot at the 12th on his way to a bogey and looked in trouble at the par-three 13th before a superb up-and-down allowed him to stay under par.
When another errant tee shot into a fairway bunker cost him a bogey five at the 14th the round was approaching its sixth hour and even the crowds were thinning.
Par-saving putts were suddenly being cheered like birdies and McIlroy’s one at the 15th was crucial to stop the rot.
A birdie at the 17th and almost another at the last sent him heading into the clubhouse with a spring in his step.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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