Rory McIlroy's signs of progress pale beside Scottie Scheffler masterclass

Scheffler leads The Open on 10-under after a seven-under second round. McIlroy is sevens shots off the American. 

Rory McIlroy said he feels like his game is "definitely good enough to make a run" during the final two rounds at The Open. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Rory McIlroy’s tenth birthday present was a round of golf here at Royal Portrush. In 2006, the 16-year old McIlroy shot a course record 61 on the old Dunluce Course. Winning an Open Championship at this place would cement that love affair.

That’s still possible, if highly improbable.

The problem with 2019 was that he surrendered too much of himself to the dream and it sundered him. Now, six years later, he finds himself part of a wide chasing pack after two mixed rounds that leave him seven adrift of an imperious Scottie Scheffler.

“It was a hard pill to swallow,” he said of that missed cut, “but at the same time I left myself too much to do [on the Friday]. Then this time, yeah, I've just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that.

“I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.” 

This was before Scheffler caught fire, but McIlroy has to look inward. It starts with his driving.

The reigning Masters champion found as many bunkers as fairways – two – off the tee through his first round. It wasn’t just that he was missing the target: some of his attempts were ending up in proper rough. The really bad stuff.

Friday was so much better. The effort off the second tee box wasn’t good. Pushed right, it left him needing a penalty drop, but anyone hoping to see the Ulsterman come good come Sunday evening can find encouragement.

He found seven fairways after that, six of them from his last seven holes. Another three efforts finished in the semi-rough. That’s ten decent to very good drives out of 14 and the spillover effect that has on a game and a round is profound.

Rasmus Hojgaard sits on five-under here on the back of a poor run of recent form. His answer was quick and simple when asked to explain why he is suddenly inhabiting the upper regions of an Open leaderboard.

“This week I've sort of managed that my tee shot has been better, apart from one drive today,” said the Dane. “So I've put myself in better position off the tee. That sort of takes a little bit of pressure off the round.” 

If McIlroy can replicate some of the driving he produced for so much of his successful week at Augusta in April then he is capable of doing something special because there have been flashes of his game that have been sublime.

His second shot from deep rough for birdie on the difficult 17th on day one was pure magic. His opening birdie on Friday was a perfectly executed masterclass on the highly challenging 4th. His last birdie was posted on a 14th playing harder than any other hole.

“I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run,” he said.

The problem is that there are so many others who will feel the same, or gone on those runs already. Players who, unlike McIlroy, made the most of benign conditions early in the day, or others who belied the wetter interludes as afternoon leaked into evening.

Brian Harman, winner in 2023, set the clubhouse lead from the early groupings, his six-under par 65 taking him to eight-under in total. There were other surges from the likes of Haotong Li, Robert MacIntyre and even Bryson DeChambeau.

The problem for DeChambeau was his 65 only got him inside the cut after Thursday’s disaster.

Scheffler soon looked ominous, his presence casting its own shadow when making three birdies in a row on the front nine. Matt Fitzpatrick went on his own rip, matching Scheffler’s feat then birdieing four on the trot on the back nine.

Here was proof of the pre-tournament consensus that this was a hard but fair links course, whatever the weather, a fact summed up earlier in the day by Harris English after the American posted a 70 despite some of the more intense rainfall.

“I'm going to play it to the best of my ability,” he said. “That's all you can do. You can moan and complain that we had to play in 30 minutes of rain and some guys might not play in the rain, but that's this tournament. That's the randomness of this tournament.” 

Fitzpatrick, like Harman and so many other first-time major winners before them, has struggled to replicate the golf that won him the 2022 US Open, but he has shown signs of a resurgence since May and a tie for eighth at the US PGA.

Ten-under through 13, he finished on nine-under. Alone at the summit at that point until Scheffler eclipsed him with a 64, that was inches away from equalling Shane Lowry’s new course record of 63 with a putt on 18, to lead by one.

McIlroy has to start stacking some birdies quickly on Saturday, but there is too much quality and too many shots to close completely on the pacesetters with 36 holes to go. Especially with the world number one in form like this.

“What’s the point,” said Scheffler in his existential press conference this week.

Most of the field could already be thinking something similar.