Rory McIlroy: 'I feel like I could be a couple closer to the lead'

Rory McIlroy sits on three-under heading into the weekend at The Open .

Fri, 18 Jul, 2025 - 16:39

Brendan O'Brien

Rory McIlroy has done what he couldn’t do here in 2019 and survived The Open Championship cut, but it was a day of mixed emotions for the reigning Masters champion who, at the end of his round, sat five shots off the clubhouse lead.

“Another solid day,” he said after a 69 to add to his opening 70 for a three-under total. “A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway and into some of these greens.

“Yeah, it was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall in a decent position heading into the weekend.”

McIlroy described himself as “excited for the opportunity” and grateful to play two more rounds and challenge for a title he won back in 2014 and on a course where, 20 years ago, he played as a teenager in the North of Ireland tournament.

His driving was better than on Thursday – it could hardly have been worse – and there were flashes of his magic. The birdie on the brutally tough par-four fourth was exceptional golf, for instance, so there is game there to work with even if he never caught fire.

“I don't know if you can ever flow, this golf course is very demanding,” he said after posting four birdies and two bogeys. “It's quite visually intimidating off the tee. You see the bunched nature of the leaderboard.

“It's one of these places where you know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie, and everyone sort of has to play the golf course the same way. Everything becomes pretty bunched.

Yeah, you can, if you have one of those out-of-the-blue days and you can get it going, but for the most part, you're just trying to pick off your birdies on the easy holes and honestly like hold on with some of these really tough par-fours.”