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Reuters
4 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Cut made, now McIlroy excited for weekend charge at Open
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland, July 18 (Reuters) - Home favourite Rory McIlroy achieved the first part of his mission at Royal Portrush on Friday -- making the cut. Now the 36-year-old cannot wait for the weekend's battle as he seeks a second British Open title. "I'm excited for that opportunity. I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited, the five-time major champion said after a two-under 69 second round kept him firmly in the mix fore the Claret Jug. McIlroy arrived at Portrush this week desperate to banish the demons of 2019 when, on the course he used to play as a child and where he broke the course record aged 16, he endured a nightmare, missing the weekend after a first-round 79. His opening round 70 was a roller-coaster ride of birdies and bogeys in which he found only two fairways. Blessed with calmer conditions for his second round, McIlroy again mixed good with bad in front of the huge galleries who flocked to cheer on the local hero. Having holed a birdie on the first, he scrambled for par on the second after nearly driving out of bounds, bogeyed the par-three third following a misjudged tee shot, birdied the fourth and bogeyed the fifth before settling down. He tapped in a birdie at the 12th and triggered a huge roar as a 17-foot putt for birdie disappeared at the 14th. It was not exactly a Rory charge but at three-under the Masters champion is only a handful of shots off the lead. "Another solid day. A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway," said McIlroy, whose Augusta win this year finally completed his career slam. "It was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall I'm in a decent position heading into the weekend." After showing flashes of his best so far, McIlroy said he will have to find another gear if he is to be challenging down the stretch on Sunday, especially off the tee where his accuracy ranks 148th out of the 156 starters. "I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that," he said. "I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. "I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run."
CNA
4 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Cut made, now McIlroy excited for weekend charge at Open
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland :Home favourite Rory McIlroy achieved the first part of his mission at Royal Portrush on Friday - making the cut. Now the 36-year-old cannot wait for the weekend's battle as he seeks a second British Open title. "I'm excited for that opportunity. I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited, the five-time major champion said after a two-under 69 second round kept him firmly in the mix fore the Claret Jug. McIlroy arrived at Portrush this week desperate to banish the demons of 2019 when, on the course he used to play as a child and where he broke the course record aged 16, he endured a nightmare, missing the weekend after a first-round 79. His opening round 70 was a roller-coaster ride of birdies and bogeys in which he found only two fairways. Blessed with calmer conditions for his second round, McIlroy again mixed good with bad in front of the huge galleries who flocked to cheer on the local hero. Having holed a birdie on the first, he scrambled for par on the second after nearly driving out of bounds, bogeyed the par-three third following a misjudged tee shot, birdied the fourth and bogeyed the fifth before settling down. He tapped in a birdie at the 12th and triggered a huge roar as a 17-foot putt for birdie disappeared at the 14th. It was not exactly a Rory charge but at three-under the Masters champion is only a handful of shots off the lead. "Another solid day. A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway," said McIlroy, whose Augusta win this year finally completed his career slam. "It was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall I'm in a decent position heading into the weekend." After showing flashes of his best so far, McIlroy said he will have to find another gear if he is to be challenging down the stretch on Sunday, especially off the tee where his accuracy ranks 148th out of the 156 starters. "I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that," he said. "I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rory McIlroy's wild driver mars homecoming opening Open Championship round
The post Rory McIlroy's wild driver mars homecoming opening Open Championship round appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Open Championship is at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the second time since 1951. In 2019, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy shot an opening round 79 and missed the cut. With a second chance in his home country, the Masters champion played a much better round. But McIlroy's driver abandoned him again at The Open Championship, leading to a grizzly stat through day 1. McIlroy hit just two fairways off the tee, but still shot one-under 70 on the day. A nine-shot improvement from six years ago is not the only positive the Grand Slam winner can take away. He was solid on the greens, finishing 30th in strokes-gained putting at +1.46. But for McIlroy to win, he needs to fix his driver. According to The Open Championship's website, McIlroy was -1.01 in strokes gained driving on the round. On the PGA Tour, he averages 0.63 strokes gained off the tee per round. That 1.64 shot difference could be the difference between him winning and losing the Claret Jug on Sunday. But if he gets his superpower back for the Friday round, the hometown kid could finally win one for Northern Ireland. Despite the driving woes, McIlroy was three under through ten holes. The lead was four under at the time, so the Northern Ireland flag was high up on the board. But consecutive bogeys on 11 and 12 changed the trajectory of his round. After another bogey on 14, he was able to birdie 17 after a poor drive to finish one under. McIlroy played with Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood on Thursday, and will again on Friday. They start their second round at 5:09 a.m. Eastern, all looking to make the cut. McIlroy and Thomas are fairly safe, as the American shot one over. But Fleetwood struggled, with a 72 to finish two over. Can all three make the cut on Friday? Related: Bryson DeChambeau's Round 1 Open Championship debacle in rare territory Related: Jon Rahm makes admission after freaking out at Open Championship fan
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Rory McIlroy confident of a weekend charge in The Open at Royal Portrush
World number two Rory McIlroy is targeting a weekend hot streak at The Open as he seeks to make up for a missed opportunity in front of a home crowd at Royal Portrush. Six years ago, he failed to make the weekend by a stroke after a terrible first day, but there was no danger of that this time around as a second-round 69 left him three under and within five of clubhouse leader and former champion Brian Harman. Since 1970, 89 per cent of Open winners have been within four of the lead after 36 holes so McIlroy will have to buck that trend, but he is feeling good about his game. 'I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall in a decent position heading into the weekend. 'I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that. 'I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run. 'I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. 'I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.' The Masters champion mixed the majestic with the mediocre over the front nine before gaining some control after turning for home. Last in the field for driving accuracy on Thursday after hitting just two fairways, he struggled to recalibrate his radar early on but that did not prevent him making birdie at the first from 18 feet after finding the semi-rough. However, he was a foot from driving out of bounds at the par-five next and had to take an unplayable lie and eventually chipped to seven feet to save par. The 176-yard third caused him problems as his tee shot caught the bank of a bunker, forcing him to stand in the sand and choke down halfway on the shaft of his wedge with his ball well above his feet and that resulted in a bogey. A 348-yard drive and approach to six feet brought a birdie at the next but the driveable par-four fifth caused him problems after pulling his three-wood into a bunker, which produced the response, 'Don't go in there. Idiot.' Another bogey followed and despite hammering a 372-yard drive down the par-five seventh he came up short with his approach, chipped to nine feet but missed the birdie attempt. There were more missed fairways, although seven found over the course of his round represented a significant improvement, but he was able to pick up two shots coming home without further drama. His eagle putt grazed the hole at the 12th and chipped an 87-yard approach to 17ft for another birdie on the 14th.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Rory McIlroy keeps cool head as he banishes ghosts of past with Masters champ continuing hot streak at The Open
RORY McILROY kept his head among the intense adulation of his home crowd as he shot a one-under-par 70 in the first round of The Open at Portrush. The Northern Irishman had crumbled under similar pressure when the event was last held at the course in 2019 - taking a quadruple-bogey eight at the first hole and missing the cut. But the Masters champion, who completed a career Grand Slam at Augusta in April, is just three shots off the lead after a day when he was wayward off the tee but hot on the greens. McIlroy said: 'The crowd were absolutely incredible. I felt the support of an entire country. 'That's a great position to be in but at the same time it brings some added pressure because I didn't want to let them down. 'I dealt with that pressure pretty well - I certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago! 'I am happy to give myself a good start and get myself into the tournament. 'I'm surprised four-under is leading, a thought someone would go out and shoot six or seven under 'I knew what to expect, it wasn't new to me playing at an Open at home, and that experience definitely helped. 'I didn't feel I was walking into the unknown, unlike last time when I hadn't experienced this before.' McIlroy sank a crucial 12-foot putt for par on the 15th, having carded three bogeys in the previous four holes - before a birdie on 17 left him under par for the round. He said: 'That par putt on 15 was a big one having bogeyed three of the last four. The Open Faces Tee Time Chaos Amid Parade Clash in Portrush 'That was a huge putt, it kept whatever momentum I had and then to go one under for the final three was pleasing. 'The wind picked up a bit on the back nine and that made it more difficult. 'It was a tough day, spending a lot of time in the rough and fairway bunkers, so to shoot under par is a bonus.'
