Rory McIlroy says feeling “detached” from this week’s Irish Open at Royal County Down aided his strong start as he finished with a flourish to boost hopes of a win on home soil.
The Northern Irishman birdied his final three holes to lie just two shots off the lead after the opening round at the Newcastle links.
Earlier this week, McIlroy admitted to having struggled with the pressure of competing in front of his home fans in the past and he put his strong showing on Thursday partially down to his decision to stay at home in Holywood and not closer to the tournament’s venue this week.
“I think it’s felt different staying at home,” said McIlroy, who carded a ruinous opening 80 when Royal County Down hosted the 2015 Irish Open.
“I feel a bit detached from the golf tournament. When you’re at the tournament site, you can hear people getting announced on the first tee and the first thing you do is check your phone and see how the boys have started off and seeing how the course is playing.”
He added: “It’s been quite a nice thing, not having been wrapped up in it. It’s been quite nice and probably part of the reason why I started well.”
McIlroy carded two birdies and a bogey in a steady opening nine before picking up a shot on the 12th.
But after missing a birdie chance on 13, he cut a frustrated figure as back-to-back bogeys dropped the four-time major winner back to level par.
However, instead of letting the round slip away, McIlroy finished with a treble of birdies to give himself a boost of momentum ahead of an early tee time on Friday.
“Sixteen and 18 are really good birdie chances,” said the 2016 champion.
“After the two bogeys on 14 and 15 I thought if I can get those two back it would be a good start so to get one more back with the birdie on 17, it’s a really nice way to start.”
McIlroy, whose Irish Open win came at the K Club, added: “I felt like I controlled my ball flight well.
“I’ve been working on my swing these last couple of weeks and it felt a little better. I’ve probably struggled a lot in left-to-right winds this year so to control my ball flight a bit and test it out there today, it was good to see I could do it when I needed to.”
‘You can tell how hard a test it is’
While McIlroy is just two back of early pacesetter Todd Clements, Shane Lowry has work to do after carding a one-over 72.
But the 2019 Open champion was upbeat with how he played after two early bogeys had put him on the backfoot.
“Starting five, five, five wasn’t ideal and then where I hit it on the fourth obviously wasn’t ideal either,” said Lowry, who won this event as an amateur in 2009.
“That up and down kind of gave me a bit of a kickstart that I needed and a bit of a pep in my step.
“You look at the scoring out there, there’s nobody shooting really low. Even in major championships, people always shoot good scores on the first day. So you can tell how hard of a test that is.”
