Rory McIlroy: 'It was a really controlled round of golf'

Last three Majors Rory McIlroy started bogey free he went on to win - 2011 US Open,  2012 PGA and 2014 Open.

FLYING START: Rory McIlroy got off to an impressive start to the U.S. Open, making three birdies in his first 10 holes.

Rory McIlroy isn’t the kind of guy to peacock walk in his putts, so when he strode behind his ball as it covered the final 20 feet of his flawless 5-under round late Thursday afternoon it seemed like a statement moment from the Northern Irishman.

“I thought I’d left it short. That’s why I walked off it. Full disclosure,” he confessed. “It looked good, though.” 

Everything about McIlroy’s first round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 looked good, from his 11 fairways hit, to his 15 greens in regulation to his chip-in birdie on the fifth and his Tiger-esque stinger on the 12th hole that reached about a quarter of the height he normally achieves off the tee.

But best off all was his complete lack of bogeys on the scorecard, which combined with late birdies at 16 and 18 left his tied with Patrick Cantlay for a share of the lead heading to an early tee time on Friday.

“It was a really controlled round of golf,” McIlroy called it.

It certainly was for a guy who leads U.S. Opens the last five years in just about every stat except trophies. McIlroy’s embrace of a U.S. Open mindest has galvanized all the pieces of his game into something that puts him consistently into the mix.

“Just trying to hit it into the middles of greens and giving yourself chances every single time, taking your medicine if you do hit it into trouble,” he said, though there wasn’t much medicine to swallow on Thursday. 

“My short game was good early on. I chipped in at 5 and had a really good up-and-down on 6, another really good up-and-down on 8. But apart from that, I think I hit every other green.” 

McIlroy’s round stood in stark contrast to his high-profile playing partners – world Nos. 1 and 2 reigning Masters and PGA champions Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. Each of them scuffled around the course all day, with Scheffler hitting only six fairways en route to a 1-over 71 and Schauffele finding just six fairways and eight greens but somehow salvaging an even-par 70.

“I didn’t hit it, chip it or putt it very well, but other than that I played pretty good,” said Scheffler.

Thursday marked the fourth time in his career that McIlroy has played the opening round of a major championship without making a bogey. The other three times came at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah and the 2014 Open Championship at Hoylake – which just happen to be the first three of McIlroy’s four major triumphs.

There’s a long way before Sunday, but it’s a nice way to build some confidence.

“Certainly the major championships that I've won or the ones that I've played well at, I've always seemed to get off to a good start, and it's nice to get off to another one,” he said.

McIlroy made three birdies in his first 10 holes to quickly climbed into third place in the afternoon. He kicked off his scoring with an impressive approach from 211 yards to 7 feet on the par-4 fourth to set up his first birdie. After getting into some waste-area trouble on the par-5 fifth, he chipped in from 67 feet for another birdie.

His third came on the par-5 10th, where his long second came to a stop just above the greenside bunker and knocked it up from there to six feet to pick up another shot.

Most of his pars along the way were relatively stress-free, the exception being on the long par-4 eighth when he rolled it in from eight feet for a save.

But despite giving himself repeated chances on the back side, McIlroy didn’t make another until 16 when his towering approach from 174 yards stopped 11 feet from the pin and then his “walk-in” finish from 20 feet on 18 polished off an inward 32 that was the low score of the day on the back side.

“I think there was a stretch there on the back nine, I birdied 10 and then hit a good shot into 11, made par, good shot into 12, made par, good shot into 13, made par, good shot into 14, made par, and I was on this run of hitting it to 20 feet and two-putting,” McIlroy said.

“I actually had a good two-putt on 15. But I just felt like my patience … I could have got a little impatient, but I felt like my patience was rewarded there with birdies on two of the last three holes. It was really nice to finish like that. As I said, a nice bit of momentum going into the morning round tomorrow.” 

McIlroy will have some company on a star-studded leaderboard trying to cash in with presumed better conditions in the morning. Bryson DeChambeau, who has made himself a fixture in the mix of every major this year, was working on a bogey-free low round of his own until his only stumble on his 16th hole (the seventh) left him tied fourth with morning finisher Matthieu Pavon at 3-under 67 – one back of U.S. Open rookie Ludvig Åberg alone in third at 4-under after a round in which the young Swede his every single green in regulation.

“Unfortunately didn't get it up and down from the backside (on 7), kind of made a mental error, just pushed it a little bit, didn't swing it my best,” said DeChambeau of his lone bogey. “But for the most part everything felt pretty solid. I was in a decent amount of control with my game. My putting felt solid. Really trying to control the speed. … “But I'm certainly excited for the next few days.” DeChambeau’s LIV Golf mate Tyrrell Hatton of England and young American Akshay Bhatia both posted 2-under 68 in the afternoon to join Tony Finau in sixth place.

Shane Lowry did not fare as well in his late opening round, shooting a 4-over 74 thanks to a finishing birdie of his own on 18. He did make two birdies in his last five holes to offset six bogeys – three on each side. He’ll start the second round in the morning tied for 88th – along with major debutante Tom McKibbin who plays late Friday – with some ground to make up to get into the weekend.

Séamus Power’s early 1-over 71 is tied for 34th.