Rory McIlroy is back playing in his native Northern Ireland but feels a bit “distant” from the Irish Open, which gets underway at Royal County Down this week.
That's because he's staying in his hometown of Holywood, a suburb of Belfast about an hour's drive north of Newcastle, a seaside town famous for its championship links on Royal County Down.
“Today I woke up and, when I would normally be at the convention, like staying at Slieve Donard, [Hotel] “Here, you hear the players being announced on the first tee and the first thing you do is probably check your phone to see where the players are starting and check the leaderboard,” McIlroy said.
“I was an hour away this week so it gave me a break from the tournament, which was nice and I wasn't too wrapped up in the tournament. I think that's why I started off so well.”
Indeed, McIlroy travelled to Newcastle on Monday, stayed at home in Belfast on Tuesday and returned to Royal County Down on Wednesday for the pro-am and press conference.
He started Thursday with a 3-under 68 and is tied for fourth place, two strokes behind Englishman Todd Clements.
“I felt like I had good control over the flight of the ball. I've been working on my swing a little bit the last few weeks and it's definitely gotten a little bit better,” McIlroy added.
“I think I've struggled a lot with left-to-right winds this year, so it was good to test out a little bit of control over the ball flight today and see that I was able to do it when I needed to.”
But it wasn't all smooth sailing for McIlroy on Thursday. He bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes, dropping him back to par for the championship. Crosswinds blowing into the Irish Sea plagued players all day.
But the four-time major winner took advantage of Royal County Down's scorable finish with birdies on the driverable par-four 16th, the par-four 17th and the par-five 18th – three consecutive par-breakers that could prove decisive for the weekend given the difficult nature of the course.
“It's very dense, that's the way the golf course is. It's tough to hit it so low, but if you position yourself well, even when you're not playing well, you can still shoot a lot of pars,” McIlroy explained.
“So, with the nature of the golf course and the way it's playing, I think it's going to be one of those tournaments where there's a lot of guys with a chance going into Sunday. But to get birdies on the last three holes after bogeying 14 and 15 was awesome.”
McIlroy hit two quality iron shots on the 17th and 18th holes for his final two birdies of the day. He said those two approaches and his drives on the final two holes were the best of the four shots he hit that day.
He saved the best for last.
“This is a tough test and a substandard score will [is solid]” McIlroy said.
“I think the strategy you need to play is a bit similar to a major tournament, which of course has its own pressures. But it's definitely a great atmosphere. It's a difficult golf course so you have to be resourceful.”
The Ulster man's isolated life in Hollywood appears to be paying off so far.
If he continues in this form, McIlroy will win his second Irish Open at Royal County Down, a far cry from the last time he played the course in 2015, when he shot an opening round 80. But there's still a lot of golf left to play and, as he said, there are plenty of other strong contenders on the leaderboard. That, combined with the unpredictability of the weather and the course itself, will give golf fans something to look forward to over the next three days.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
