Composed McIlroy battles back after nervy start

RORY McILROY has a long way to go to justify the opinion he is the next Tiger Woods but he demonstrated once again yesterday that he has both the golf game and the mental capacity to perform at the very highest level.

A round of two over par 72 in the most favourable conditions of the day may not sound a big deal but it keeps the youngster in the pecking order for, at the very least, a high finishing position in his first US Open.

He likes to play down the significance of these occasions but he would hardly be normal if he wasn’t just a little nervous tackling one of the most difficult courses on the planet.

He was two over after his first three holes as he struggled with the challenge of the 10th and 12th, a couple of par fours measuring 508 and 504 yards respectively. Glad to have those two out of the way, McIlroy cracked two massive shots on to the green at the 605-yard 12th and two putted for birdie. He duly made his way through the remainder of the nine in strict par only to tangle with the trees to the right of the first fairway and run up a potentially morale- shattering double bogey six.

It was the manner in which he handled further potential disaster at the second that proved McIlroy is made of the right stuff. He was in thick rough 70 yards from the hole in three but somehow dug it out to 10 feet and holed the putt for bogey. The relief was apparent as he reeled off a hat-trick of birdies before taking bogey at the 525-yard seventh. He finished with two pars, just missing a 12 foot birdie putt on the ninth.

“It was looking like a 76 or 77 until those three birdies and although I was disappointed to make bogey at seven from the middle of the fairway, 72 out there is a pretty solid effort,” he maintained. “I think a lot of people will be two over after three when they start on the back nine because 10 and 12 are such tough holes. I hit two great shots at 13 and settled nicely.

“I found one of those US Open lies at the first. It was terrible. I should have taken my medicine and chipped it out but I tried for too much and ended up with a double. The biggest point of the round was making five at the second. It was looking like a six or a seven but I was able to get it up and down from the rough from 70 yards for five and that kept me going. The three birdies in a row helped me.”

He admitted he has had the best of the weather so far and is further enthused by the atmosphere created by the 50,000 people at Bethpage.

“Phil [Mickelson] was playing only two groups behind me and you could hear every roar and you knew he had holed a putt or hit a great shot,” he glowed. “The crowd really get into it and are very supportive at the same and certainly it was the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced at a golf tournament. They called me kid, youngster, big mac, a few more, and it was quite funny.”

Darren Clarke managed only one birdie, at the 18th, his ninth. But he had opened with a double bogey six and dropped another at the 15th to be out in two over. Further losses at the fourth and fifth pushed him to four over, the mark he finished on having parred the last four.