In pursuit of his second Open Championship name, the Northern Irishman made a scintillating start at the Old Program, draining a beast 55-foot putt to the opening hole in order to spark a roar from the grandstands.
Three consecutive pars followed, with the 33-year-old’s fine starting looking set to keep on with a powerful drive from the fifth tee. Yet, incredibly, McIlroy’s speeding shot had been prematurely grounded in order to bounced into a stone in the middle of the fairway.
Shaped like miniature tombstones and known as Mar Stones, they tag the edges from the original course, which usually dates back to the fifteenth century.
Despite the stone’s best effort, McIlroy rallied superbly to birdie the par-5 opening, before rattling two more in a line to sit 4-under after just seven holes.
Speaking to reporters after his round, the four-time major champion admitted that while he hadn’t observed the stone’s impact on his drive, he had been chatting with their caddie Harry Gemstone about the prospect of an unlucky golfer being forced to play a shot from behind one.
“I said to Harry, some bad guy is going to have his ball find yourself right behind that nowadays because it’s right in the firing variety, and I don’t think you obtain a drop, ” McIlroy said.
There was also a light-hearted jab at circular partners Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, who birdied the particular fifth without any rock intervention.
“I think I still hit it past the other two, ” McIlroy laughed, reflecting on his followup shot.
A bogey in the 13th provided the only real blemish on the Northern Irishman’s scorecard, like a closing birdie at the final hole noticed the 2014 Champ close out the 6-under 66, making him two shots behind clubhouse chief Cameron Young.
“Fantastic start, ” McIlroy said. “Just what you hope will happen giving up cigarettes starting off your week.
“I did everything that you simply supposed to do around St Andrews… It’s great start at a major, 3 in a row for me now. Looking forward to the next few days. ”
Yet as the Claret Jug remains well within view for McIlroy, certainly one of his few run away drives was not observed by one unfortunate spectator.
Charlie Kane, a PGA Tour worker, tweeted that he experienced suffered a fractured hand after the golfer’s ball hit their knuckle.
Accompanying pictures demonstrated painful looking bruising, but concluded showing Kane back out around the course cheerful, albeit sporting the sling.
“He shouted fore. I did not pay attention to the warning, ” he wrote.
McIlroy is definitely scheduled to first tee off for their second round on 2: 59 p. m. BST (9: 59 a. meters. ET) Friday.