McIlroy proud of Open fightback | ‘I’m right in the tournament’

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Rory McIlroy reflects on his first round at the The Open after he finished on par and the Northern Irishman says he felt lucky after his incredible bunker shot on the 18th.

Rory McIlroy was left proud of resilient performance after battling back from a tough start to stay within five shots of the lead after the opening round of The 151st Open.

McIlroy, looking for back-to-back victories after his impressive Genesis Scottish Open win on Sunday, was two over with five holes of his round remaining before a strong finish saw him salvage a level-par 71.

The world No 2, targeting an end to a nine-year major drought at the venue he won The Open when it was last held in Hoylake in 2014, mixed three birdies with as many bogeys to stay in touch with early leaders Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo and amateur Christo Lamprecht.

Rory McIlroy scrambled to an opening-round 71 at The Open

“I’m right in the golf tournament,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “I need to go out [on Friday] and shoot a score in the 60s, and I’ll be right there for the weekend.

“I felt like I actually played okay, I missed a couple putts on the front nine but started to get the putter going a little bit on the back nine which was nice to see. It was tricky out there [on Thursday] afternoon, the wind was blowing a little bit, it felt it was hard to get close to some pins.

“I felt anything in the 60s would be quite a good score. I didn’t quite get there but after bogeying a couple of holes on the front there I could have let the round get away from me and I didn’t. Even par is a solid start, I wouldn’t have minded being a couple lower but I’ll take it.”

What happened for McIlroy on day one?

McIlroy recovered from a wayward drive at the first to post a two-putt par and fired a brilliant approach to set up a close-range birdie at the next, only to bogey the par-four fourth after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

Rory McIlroy was playing alongside world No 3 Jon Rahm, who struggled to a three-over 74

The Northern Irishman failed to take advantage of the par-five fifth and was unable to make the most of a birdie chance at the ninth, seeing him reach the turn in 36, although took advantage of narrowly avoiding pitching into a bunker to scramble a par at the 11th.

McIlroy missed a 10-footer to save par at the 12th buy made amends by draining a 40-footer at the par-four 14th, then recovered from finding the sand with his approach into the par-five 15th to get up and down for birdie.

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Rory McIlroy produced a fantastic putt from 40 feet at the 14th hole to get his second birdie in the opening round of The Open

The world No 2 McIlroy produced a smart pitch to save par at the 16th and negotiated the troublesome par-three 17th with a two-putt par, then had a 15-minute wait to play his second shot into the last.

McIlroy was left option but to chip out sideways and needed two attempts to get out of the sand, although holed from 10 feet to scramble an unlikely par and avoid joining his playing partners Jon Rahm and Justin Rose in finishing over par.

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After a whirlwind opening round, Rory McIlroy produced an outstanding shot from the bunker on 18th on the second attempt, saving par in the process as he finishes on par with 71

On the bunker escape, McIlroy added: “That was really good in the end. These bunkers are really tough, it doesn’t seem to go into the middle of them and you’re really up against the face.

“I actually got lucky because it could have gone in a deeper part of my footprint and I might have been there all night. It was great to get away with a five and it was a big putt to end on.”

Watch The 151st Open throughout the week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the second round begins on Friday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf. McIlroy’s group will be part of Featured Group coverage, available via the red button on Sky Sports Golf and on the Sky Sports App.