SANDWICH, England — For the first time in 11 months, Rory McIlroy walked off the 18th green in the early stages of a major championship and did not see his name atop the leader board.
That’s how good he has been at golf’s biggest events.
And the way he rallied from a rugged start Thursday in the British Open, McIlroy didn’t think his 1-over 71 was all that bad.
“Anywhere around even par was a good start,” McIlroy said.
Facing enormous attention coming off his wire-to-wire win in the U.S. Open last month at Congressional, McIlroy made a few key putts in the middle of his round to steady himself against a stiff breeze at Royal St. George’s.
He was six shots behind Thomas Bjorn.
Trailing by any margin can only be considered a strange spot for McIlroy based on his recent history. He has been in the lead after seven of the past eight rounds in the majors, the exception being the 80 he shot in the final round at the Masters to lose a four-shot lead.
This day was different. And if the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland didn’t know it, then he at least heard it.
When he stepped on the first tee, the cheers resounded the length of the 444-yard opening hole.
“It was great,” he said. “I probably didn’t take it in as much as I could have. … Hopefully, I can give them something to shout about.”
It took awhile in the opening round.
His long putt on the first green went some 8 feet past the hole and he wound up three-putting for bogey.
Then came the par-3 third, where McIlroy got one of the wild, hard hops so often seen at Royal St. George’s and wound up in rough behind the green. The chip came out heavy, leading to another bogey. And his next tee shot went into deep grass in front of a large knoll.
Suddenly, this didn’t look like the U.S. Open champion. It looked like the kid who shot 80 the last day at Augusta.
McIlroy powered a short iron out and onto the green, hit a superb chip from well left of the green at No. 5 to five feet to save par, and before long was back in his comfort zone.
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