Home comforts work a treat for Rory McIlroy as he makes early Irish Open surge

"I haven't been so wrapped up in it, which is quite nice. Probably the reason why I started well, I would say"

By: irishmirror.ie

Sep 12 2024
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Home comforts work a treat for

Rory McIlroy claims that home comforts were the key for his fast Amgen Irish Open start.

The world number three said on the eve of the tournament at Royal County Down that playing in front of an army of home fans was a "double-edged sword" due to the extra pressure.

But the Holywood star has taken the fishbowl effect out of the equation this year by staying at home with his parents just outside Belfast this week.

The plan worked a treat with a first round 68, made up of six birdies and three bogeys, propelling McIlroy to joint fourth place behind overnight leader Todd Clements (five-under par).

"I think it's felt different staying at home," said McIlroy later. "I feel a bit detached from the golf tournament.

"Today I woke up and usually when you're at a tournament site, like you can get if I was staying at the Slieve Donard there, you can hear people announced on the first tee, and maybe the first thing you do is checking your phone and seeing how the boys started off and checking the leaderboard.

"Staying an hour away, I've felt detached from the tournament this week, which has been quite a nice thing and I haven't been so wrapped up in it, which is quite nice. Probably the reason why I started well, I would say."

McIlroy shot 80 in his first round when the Irish Open last came to Royal County Down and, after a three-birdie salvo on his final three holes yesterday evening, he praised the difficulty of the world-famous links.

"It's a major championship-calibre golf course," said the 35-year-old. "It's just unfortunate that we don't have the infrastructure around the golf course to host something like an Open because if we did, it definitely would be able to host an Open Championship.

"It's just limited the amount of people you can get in here and logistically it doesn't quite make sense. But it's up there with the toughest courses that we play."

Rory McIlroy tees off on the 5th (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)

It was a different story yesterday evening as, with just over an hour of sunlight still in the sky over Newcastle, the 35-year-old rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt - his sixth of the day - for a three-under par 68 that positions him nicely for the battle ahead.

Crucially, McIlroy stayed patient and remained disciplined, even though he three-putted twice and made three bogies - including back to back dropped shots on 14 and 15.

That could have been the cue for the wheels to come off but, instead, he responded with three birdies on his way in, much to the delight of the supporters who held on to cheer him home.

McIlroy is joint fourth overall, two shots adrift of overnight leader Clements - whose 66 included an eagle and five birdies was almost embellished by a hole in one on the 7th, his 16th hole.

"This course is as hard as it gets," stated the Englishman afterwards. "You have to take it day-by day...cliché.

"But tomorrow it's going to be cold, it's going to be windy and another gruelling test. Sad as it is to say, I'm probably looking forward to it."

After the brutal conditions that prevailed on Wednesday during the Pro-Am, it was no surprise that the course set-up was benign and with generous pin positions and McIlroy was among those who took advantage as he birdied all three of the par fives.

His round began in cold and wet conditions but he still birdied the par-five first. By the end, the wind had died down enough for him to sprinkle some stardust on the tournament with his run of birdies - especially that one on the last, when his over-eager eagle attempt from long range drifted too far from the hole for comfort.

However, McIlroy will be concerned that his distance control with a wedge or short iron in his hand let him down at times, with several opportunities wasted as approach shots fell well short.

"Jeez, any time you can shoot three-under around this place, you have to be happy," said McIlroy, who is back out early this morning for his second round.

"Conditions were pretty tough early on. And then the wind seemed to settle a bit over those last few holes so it was nice to take advantage of that and play the last few holes the way I did.

The key for McIlroy now is not to lose his focus because, on a tough track like this, if he does so it could prove fatal to his hopes of starting this end of season run with a bang on Sunday.

From playing here since when he was a kid, he knows where to pull back and when to pull the trigger, and even the right side to miss if the wind gets up.

"I wouldn't say it's quite like a major but it's a tough test, and you know that anything under par...I think the strategy that you need to play with is a little bit like a major but majors obviously bring their own type of pressure as well," McIlroy reflected.

"But yeah, it's a great atmosphere out there. It's a difficult golf course, and you have to have your wits about you."

And, whatever the weather brings in the coming days, McIlroy predicts that it will be a close-run affair all the way through until Sunday evening.

"It's so bunched," he said. "You're even par and 30th and you're three-under and you're fourth. It's the way the golf course is. It's hard to go very low but if you can manage your way around, even if you don't have your game, you can make a lot of pars.

"So I think it's going to be one of these tournaments where there's probably going to be a lot of people in with a chance going into Sunday."

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