A mixed opening round for McIlroy as he focuses on golf after recent disruptions

After 48 hours in which the sport that is his life was turned upside down when Saudi Arabia assumed almost total control, McIlroy got back to playing it shortly after sunrise at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto’s northern fringes.

JUST PLAYING GOLF: Rory McIlroy is happy to be playing golf and leaving the disruptions of the last few days to the side for a few hours. Pic: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Having tried to fix golf only to discover that the fix was in all along, Rory McIlroy turned his Thursday thoughts to more familiar problems. Eventually, he looked pretty glad to do so.

They are, crucially, issues that he knows he is in total control of and knows he can fix: erratic driving, tentative chipping, stubbornly frustrating wedge play. All controllable, all him.