PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland \u2013 There was no first-tee horror or opening-round meltdown this time.<\/p>\n
Determined to be better prepared than when he faceplanted in front of the home fans at Royal Portrush in 2019, McIlroy began this 153rd Open with a 1-under 70 \u2013 nine strokes better than six years ago \u2013 that left him just three shots off the early pace.<\/p>\n
Six years ago, McIlroy imploded early with a first-tee hook that hopped out of bounds and led to a stunning quadruple bogey and Thursday 79. At the time, he said that he was taken aback by the overwhelming support of the partisan crowd, rooting on their favorite son who grew up about an hour away, in Holywood.<\/p>\n
The support seemed even more immense this year, after McIlroy cemented his legendary status this spring by completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters. He arrived on the tee<\/a> to a raucous ovation and went around Portrush hailed by fans who at times stood 10 rows deep.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cBut at the same time, you don\u2019t want to let them down. So there\u2019s that little bit of added pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I dealt with it really well today \u2013 certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n