Rory McIlroy has already gone one step further at The Open this week than he did in 2019, having just made the weekend with his score of three-under.
McIlroy missed the cut at Royal Portrush when The Open was held there six years ago, but he’s now managed to put that nightmare behind him.
The home favourite opened his latest attempt at major success with a one-under 70, and went one better in round two with his 69.
McIlroy has received huge support at The Open so far, with almost every fan willing the Northern Irishman to triumph on home soil.
It has undoubtedly placed him under huge pressure, but that is pressure that he has managed to thrive under so far.
Why Rory McIlroy is ‘excited’ to play the weekend at The Open
And excitement is now the main emotion the five-time major winner is feeling ahead of playing at Royal Portrush on Saturday and Sunday.
Sharing his thoughts on his latest round, McIlroy said afterwards: “Another solid day. A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway and into some of these greens.
“Yeah, it was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall in a decent position heading into the weekend.”
And when asked how he feels about playing the weekend in front of the fans, he replied: “Yeah, I’m excited for that opportunity.
“I didn’t have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I’m very excited for that. I feel like my game’s definitely good enough to make a run. So as I said, I’m excited for the weekend.”
Rory McIlroy says what every player has to do at Royal Portrush after making The Open cut
Royal Portrush is, of course, a venue that McIlroy knows well, but it is his first time playing there as a grand slam champion.
He won The Masters to complete the feat earlier this year, which may just have put added pressure on his shoulders.
So while his home fans are delighted for his stunning success, many will be expecting another world-class display this week, hopefully ending with his hands on the Claret Jug.
McIlroy was also told post-round that he was getting to grips with his long game towards the end of Thursday and Friday, while it was suggested that the crowd are willing him on and he’s willing himself to stay in contention.
And asked when he will start flowing, he replied: “I don’t know if you can ever flow… this golf is very demanding. It’s quite visually intimidating off the tee.
“I think you see like the bunched nature of the leaderboard. It’s one of these places where you know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie, and everyone sort of has to play the golf course the same way. Everything becomes pretty bunched.
“Yeah, you can, if you have one of those out of the blue days and you can get it going, but for the most part, you’re just trying to pick off your birdies on the easy holes and honestly like hold on with some of these really tough par-4s.”
| Stat | Round one | Round two |
| Birdies | 5 | 4 |
| Pars | 9 | 12 |
| Bogeys | 4 | 2 |
The five-time major champion has been far from perfect at this year’s Open so far, particularly with his driver.
It is usually a hugely reliable facet of his game, but he’s been forced to pick up the pieces elsewhere after failing to find the fairways from the tee more often than not.
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