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.