Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

sReq | uTeK

3 albeit very hard birdie chances on 4 if the 5 mist difficult holes on the course.

coillcam

Two under at the turn. Motoring along nicely. Body language looks comfortable and confident, make of that what you will.

coillcam

Jaysus that was about as bad of a lie as you could get. Nice to see a bit of anger, though tbf there's no predicting where that ball was going to go.

testtech05

That was a great par considering the lie he had after the wayward drive

SuprSi

His putting has been outstanding today

testtech05

When the 2nd went long there (those kinda shots he was stitching to the flag on Sunday) I was just thinking another par and won't be in bad shape overall.

Great putt to sink, a real bonus

thefallingman

This is Rory as good as I’ve ever seen him, every part of his game looks good and he looks on it mentally

SuprSi

What a round he's put together, a par on the last for 4 birdies, no dropped shots, 14 pars and a 66.

big_drive

So impressive today so far

SuprSi

Ahhh I jinxed him, bugger. Really poor 2nd into his 18th and his first bogey to finish 3 under.

BoardsMember

Just switched it on. Indecision before his approach shot. Predictable outcome. Poor course management? At my sh1te level I prefer to hit less club hard than shape it in softly/with feel.

Barnaboy

He was just sublime today. Was sneakily watching his group on the featured groups on the us open app.

Everything about his round says he is in as good as place as I have seen since his early 20s.

I would not bet against him winning this.

Mantis Toboggan

Very early days yet, playing well but a long way to go. 67 is a nice start, seems to have sorted his major day 1 no show. I would say a course that doesn't really suit but he'll be happy with that start.

Dr. Bre

I think he will win here . I know it’s early days . Just something different about Rory recently . That last round at Augusta seems to have changed him

Xander10

Yeah he's getting angry with his bad shots but reacting in a positive way, no head dropping. Will be there abouts for sure

big_drive

Great opening round. Last hole was disappointing but considering the par save he got earlier in round it all probably evened itself out

blackcard

Putted brilliant today, think he gained more than 4 strokes on the field. If he can find a few more fairways, he should be in contention

slave1

Well he didn't lose it today, just don't lose Friday, Sat and then Sun

DuckSlice

here we go again on the Rory Rollercoaster. I think he can win it but we will be watching from behind the couch as you never know with Rory what he will do next.

slave1

In fairness he got some long putts yesterday and shaved a number of holes, very patient waiting for his first birdie but also pure anger at times beating bunkers and throwing clubs

coillcam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214236#Comment_119214236

I'm no body language expert but he seems angrier and fired up after a mistake. Meanwhile patient and focused the rest of the time. On other occasions, I've seen him drop his head and seem resigned to accepting his fate.

Amazing what a win and a bit of confidence do for your mentality. Hopefully, he can maintain that mentality as the course condition gets tougher and he really gets tested.

Maybe all of the LIV stuff was a welcome distraction or valve release so there wasn't as much focus on him before the tournament, despite being the red-hot favorite from last week.

Nonetheless, great to see him get a good first round in a major. DISCLAIMER: I also know SFA and probably am talking through my hoop 😁.

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214236#Comment_119214236

The bunker was hilarious, very Sergioesque, unusual to see him react like that. It's the US Open so mistakes will happen, hopefully he won't burn himself out mentally.

DuckSlice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214660#Comment_119214660

I think it was probably anger at the shot that got him in that position as much as the outcome. He could very easily have not moved the ball at all, the bunker was a decent leave and took double bogey out of it.

I think we will see a level par round from him today or maybe +1 but he will be still there or there abouts in the grand scheme of things.

BoardsMember

Encouraging for Rory that nobody has got away on the leaderboard, even if only round 2. It will remind him that it's all about making pars, pick up birdies where/if you can. Let others fall back rather than try to push too hard himself.

DellyBelly

Poor start...but a decent double bogey..could have been an 8 or worse

thefallingman

but he looks like he really cares again and I’ve been his biggest critic for wasting his obvious talent, this looks like the young Rory of old weather he wins or not

Mantis Toboggan

Always seems to be some sort of correlation between McGinley being on commentary and Mcllroy playing badly 😁

cosatron

Mcginley on commentary is just horrific

Mushy

Some battling in this round, to be level is great. Only 1 behind too

big_drive

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119217843#Comment_119217843

Very good as you'd feel it's one that could have gone very wrong early on, good attitude to keep it going