The Open Championship: McIlroy feels home support in opening round

Rory McIlroy says he got a sense of the level of support for him during his first round at the Open in Royal Portrush.

The Holywood World Number Two shot a 1-under par 70, despite only hitting two fairway throughout hid round. He sits just three shots off the lead, held by five players on 4 under par – Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li, Matt Fitzpatrick, Christian Bezuidenhout and Harris English.

“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 in 1 under, and it was nice to shoot under par. I felt like, once we turned for home, 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 admitted.

“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.

“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,” added the 36-year-old.

“So there's that little bit of added pressure. I felt like I dealt with it really well today. I 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. 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.”

Despite a bogey five at the first, it was an improvement from the last time he teed off in the first round in 2019.

That Thursday, McIlroy went out of bound to finish with a quadruple-bogey eight that contributed to him failing to make the halfway cut.

This year, he says he was more measured as he knew what to expect.

“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. 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,” he finished.

He’s back out tomorrow morning for his second round at 10.09am