McIlroy sees patience rewarded as stunning 65 gives him share of US Open lead
Rory McIlroy celebrates after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th green during the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Mike Ehrmann/USGA)
Rory McIlroy saw his patience rewarded with two birdies in the last three holes as a bogey-free 65 gave him a share of the first-round lead in the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Crediting his performance to the new “stoic” attitude he’s adopted in the game’s toughest major in 2019, he outscored PGA champion Xander Schauffele by five shots and world number one Scottie Scheffler by six to top the leaderboard alongside American Patrick Cantlay on five-under-par.
It was an impressive display by the world number three, who has won all three of the majors he’s started with bogey-free rounds — the 2011 US Open, the 2012 PGA and the 2014 Open Championship.
“Certainly the major championships that I've won or the ones that I've played well at, I've always seemed to get off to a good start, and it's nice to get off to another one,” said McIlroy, who is looking to end a near ten-year major drought in North Carolina.
Cantlay posted his 65 in the morning wave but McIlroy matched him in the afternoon, making birdies at the 16th and 18th to join his Ryder Cup rival in a one-shot lead over Swedish debutant and Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg.
“The golf course is a little different to what it was last year, but still the same strategy, same mindset,” McIlroy said after walking after a successful 20-footer at the last, not because he thought it was destined to fall but because he feared he’d left it short.
Having followed three missed cuts in the US Open with five top-10s in a row since 2019, he’s adopted a “super conservative” strategy in the game’s toughest major and seen positive results.
“I think with my demeanour, just trying to be super stoic,” he said. “I really don't think I embraced US Open setups probably 10 years into my US Open career.
Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Mike Ehrmann/USGA)
“I played my first one in '09, and I think I really changed my mindset around them in 2019, that one in Pebble, and then since then I've also started to enjoy this style of golf a lot more.
“It's a lot different than the golf that we play week in, week out.”
McIlroy opened with three stress-free pars in the marginally more difficult afternoon conditions before making two birdies in a row, ripping a 211-yard approach to seven feet at the fourth before chipping in for another birdie at the par-five fifth.
When he did miss a green, he scrambled for par, getting up and down at the sixth and eighth to turn in 33.
The Co Down man (35), who had only fours and threes on his card, two-putted for birdie at the par-five 10th before following a series of two-putt pars with a strong finish, rolling in an 11-footer at the 16th before holing from 20 feet at the last.
“I could have got a little impatient, but I felt like my patience was rewarded there with birdies on two of the last three holes,” he said.
“It was really nice to finish like that. As I said, a nice bit of momentum going into the morning round tomorrow.”
It’s the second time in a row he’s opened with a 65 in the US Open and he was pleased to make another strong start.
“It's been good,” he said.. I went through a run there for a while where my starts at major championships weren't very good.
"Probably got myself a little too worked up at the start of the week.
“But yeah, even back to the PGA, I opened with a five-under there at Valhalla. Felt like I played okay.
“First day at Augusta, even going all the way back to this tournament last year, opened with a low one.
Wasn't quite as low as Rickie and Xander (who shot 62), but it was nice to open up with a low one and feel like you're right in the tournament from the first day.”
McIlroy looked inspired and sharp alongside world No. 1 Scheffler and world No. 2 Schauffele, who scrambled to card respective rounds of 71 and 70.
“I enjoy playing in these groups,” he said. “When you've been out here for, whatever it is, 16 or 17 years, sometimes you need a little extra to get the juices going, and being in a group like that definitely helps.”
Scheffler hit just six fairways but his 71 left him tied for 34th with Seamus Power, who battled back from three-over after 11 holes.
“I didn’t hit it, chip it or putt it very well but other than that, I played pretty good,” Scheffler said with more than a hint of irony.
As for Shane Lowry, he rounded off a tough day on a positive by making a 30-footer for birdie at the 18th to shoot 74 and tie for 88th with debutant Tom McKibbin on four-over.
The Clara man missed ten greens in regulation and was five-over after 12 holes before he steadied the ship coming down the stretch as birdies at the 14th and 18th cancelled out his lone three-putt of the day at the 17th.
