Rory McIlroy muscled his way straight into contention with a 67 but again it was a round that could have ‘been’ on day one of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
McIlroy was in the opulent clubhouse at lunch two shots behind fellow PGA champion, Justin Thomas who grabbed six birdies in a five-under par 65 in the cool morning and benign conditions on New York’s Long Island.
Patrick Reed, and with only a second hole-in-one in his career, posted a 66 to be in second place at four-under par.
McIlroy’s round was a mix of three outward nine birdies before a 10th hole bogey, a par on 11 and then a birdie on 12 ahead of six closing pars.
“I had a really good start in playing the par-3s really well, and played those in 3-under for the day,” he said.
“I also drove the ball better. I put the ball in play much more today than I have done in the previous few weeks. That bodes well.
“Hopefully I can keep that going over the next three days, and that’s what you need to do around here, just keep it in the short stuff, and then the greens are still receptive enough where you can give yourself some chances.
“I took a couple of my chances today. It was one of those rounds I felt like could have been a little lower than it was, but at the same time 67 is a really good start.”
Moments ahead of teeing off, Paul McGinley had been commentating on SKY that McIlroy was not on his game and he did not ‘fancy’ his chances this week.
Of course, a McIlroy first hole birdie a few minutes does notUS make for winning a fifth major but that’s what McIlroy did in holing a great 20-footer at the par-3 10th.
McIlroy shaved the hole at the next before moving to two-under and into the lead as the last of the 72 morning players teed off, in holing an 11-footer for birdie at the par-3 13th.
The new dad then pared his next three holes and was on the 15th fairway when Patrick Reed, wearing a while cap blue shirt and red trousers, holed out for an ace at the par-3 seventh hole.
Not that you would have known given the no-spectator policy in place and with Reed simply walking over to his playing partners and caddies for a round of ‘knuckles’.
The absence of the noisiest spectators in golf cost Reed’s player partner, Jordan Spieth a lost ball at his second hole and despite organisers the USGA arranging for an additional 25 ‘ball spotters’ to boost the number to 425.
Spieth, winner of the 2015 U.S. Open but without a win since the Open Championship in 2017, had bogeyed the first and now after his double on two was three-over. However, Spieth superbly regrouped to birdie three in succession from the fourth but then slipped to eventually finish with a three-over 73.
McIlroy’s decent driving display continued hitting a fifth of seven outward nine fairways at the 18th or the ninth hole of his round, and then finding the green and holing out from 32-feet for a third birdie of his round to get to three-under.
There was a first and only bogey in three-putting his 10th hole from close to 40-feet though McIlroy got the shot back sinking a seven-footer at the par-3 third hole or the 12th of his round.
McIlroy drove the green at the 329-yard par-4 sixth and his 15th hole leaving himself 40-feet for eagle and then the lead but in missing the putt he horribly also failed to hole his four-footer for birdie.
It was McIlroy’s third straight par and he then doubled that number to end with his 67 in a round that should have been lower as he hit nine of 14 fairways and then missed just three of 18 greens in regulation.
“I started this tournament last year decently in shooting a 68 at Pebble on the first day last year, so I’ve gotten off to decent starts,” he said.
“At a U.S. Open, if you can get off to a good start, you’re not chasing as much. And when you chase on U.S. Open golf courses, that’s when you can start to make mistakes and compound your errors.
“To have that sort of cushion, to be a little bit more relaxed about your play, not take on too much, be able to still play conservative golf, I think that’s important here.
“So, having shot a 67, it gives me a little more confidence in my game, maybe a little more commitment with my swing off the tee, not guiding it as much, really being able to free-flow and make good, committed swings.
“Hopefully that sets me up to do that over the next few days.”
