“I still feel I’m in the golf tournament”.
That showed, as McIlroy twirled a club on the 17th hole after hitting a long iron to the green.
U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, with no competition and barely any practice since capturing his first major a month ago, ran off three straight birdies and holed a tough shot from a pot bunker for eagle on the par-5 17th hole for a 5-under 65. “Look, I just had to turn it around. I thought that would have an effect on me”, he added.
“I couldn’t have done much better today”, he said.
Struggling to find his A-game, Day admits when the going gets tough he gets going.
McIlroy came into this year’s Open looking scarcely like the man who blitzed the field in this same tournament in 2014 at Royal Liverpool. McIlroy and Woodland were set to tee off half an hour earlier. He wasn’t robotic or godlike; it felt as if you were watching an affable mortal do unbelievable things. “He tries to keep me as positive as he possibly can”.
“They need to get out and water it a little bit”.
“To be in after two days and be under par for this championship after the way I started, I’m ecstatic with that”, McIlroy said. What the f– are you doing?
“I couldn’t have done much better today”, he said. “Thankfully he’s not had to do it too often”.
The fact remains that despite McIlroy’s improved mood, he’s playing inconsistently.
South Africa’s Branden Grace had also moved to level par after four birdies in the first eight holes while Southport native Tommy Fleetwood finished one over after a 66. The hole played to a 4.7 average, with 19 double bogeys or worse.
“My caddie, JP, gave me a talking to”.
Just not for McIlroy until late in the round, or Johnson and Mickelson all day. He finally seems to have found one he likes, though, a TP Juno blade model from TaylorMade, and his confidence on the greens seems to be gradually returning.
He buried a 12-footer for par on the 10th hole, followed with a fist pump, then did the same on the 11th from a similar distance.
“It’s not like I went through a war”, McIlroy said. And I saw from this morning it wasn’t playing easy.
The Northern Irishman, victor of the Claret Jug at nearby Royal Liverpool in 2014 and a four-time major victor, recovered from a perilous five over after just six holes at Royal Birkdale to stage an impressive four-birdie recovery after the turn to card a one-over 71. He was itching to get back to competition, and after arriving last weekend at Royal Birkdale to learn the course, he proved to be a quick study.