Magical McIlroy shows mettle after the meltdown

MELTDOWN, what meltdown? Two months on from the darkest moment in professional golf at the Masters, Rory McIlroy got back on his majors horse and rode straight back to the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the US Open.

There had been fears in the aftermath of his final-round 81 at Augusta National, when McIlroy had held the lead for 63 holes, only to fall apart with a triple-bogey seven at the 10th, that the Holywood golfer, then 21, would not be able to fulfil his considerable potential, that the mental scars would run too deep.

On the evidence of McIlroy’s opening flourish at Congressional Country Club near Washington DC last night, the mettle of the Irish boy wonder has been severely underestimated.