Rory McIlroy’s hopes of making up for his US Open heartbreak last month have taken a big blow on the opening day of The Open , the Northern Irishman finishing the day at seven over.
McIlroy bogeyed the opening hole, before steadying the ship with a birdie at the par-4 3rd – but a double at the 120-yard, par-3 8th, the Postage Stamp , where he found the bunker and took two shots to get out, saw the start of a big wobble.
After battling to save par on the 9th and make the turn in two over, he couldn’t make his four from off the green at the next.
Then, on 11, he carved his tee shot out of bounds, which led to another double bogey, his second in the space of four holes.
Afterwards, McIlroy admitted that he didn't adapt well enough to the tough conditions.
"I felt like I was in reasonable enough shape being a couple over through 9, thinking that I could maybe get those couple shots back," he said.
"I was actually surprised how difficult I felt like the back nine played. I thought we were going to get it a little bit easier than we did.
"The course was playing tough. The conditions are very difficult in a wind that we haven't seen so far this week."
The Northern Irishman had Major number five in his hands at Pinehurst in June, only to miss two short putts in the closing stages to surrender the title to Bryson DeChambeau.
Clearly hurting after such as agonising finish, he left Pinehurst in a hurry, later admitting that he had changed his telephone number to try and give himself some space.
The World No.2 returned to action at last week’s Scottish Open, where he finished in a tie for fourth and appeared to be in good form on and off the golf course.
“Game's in really good shape,” McIlroy said, on the eve of the 152nd Open.
“Had a nice reset after Pinehurst that was needed and felt like I shook off a little bit of the rust last week and played okay.”
Reflecting on his heartbreak at Pinehurst, he said: “It's funny how your mindset can go from I don't want to see a golf course for a month to like four days later being can't wait to get another shot at it.”
The last of McIlroy’s four Major Championships came at the PGA Championship almost ten years ago, and he’s given himself a lot of work to do if he’s to end the wait for number five this week.
The 2014 Open champion has an impressive record at golf’s oldest Major Championship, and finished tied sixth at Royal Liverpool last year.
He’s also suffered a couple of poor performances on the links, missing the cut at Muirfield in 2013 and Royal Portrush in 2019.
After the ugly double-bogey six on the 11th, McIlroy desperately went about trying to repair the damage, but he dropped another shot at the 15th to fall to six over.
After finding the trap off the tee with his final drive, he could only chip out sideways, which led to another bogey, his par effort slipping inches wide.
By the time he signed for a 78, he was ten shots off the pace set by Justin Thomas, although there weren't many players in the red.
He'll be hoping that the weather stays wet and windy so he at least has a chance of forcing his way back into the tournament on Friday.
On the challenge ahead, McIlroy said: "All I need to focus on is tomorrow and try to make the cut. That's all I can focus on."
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