ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Rory McIlroy repeated himself several times after his opening-round 66 Thursday at the British Open.
“I need to go out tomorrow and back up what I just did today,’’ McIlroy said after his 6-under first round. “That’s important to do. Tomorrow’s an important run, just to go out and back up what I’ve done today.’’
McIlroy didn’t shoot another 66 on Friday, but he did post a 68 and has himself in contention to win his first major championship since 2014. He’s 10-under and tied for third, three shots behind leader Cam Smith.
“I’m in a good position going into the weekend,’’ McIlroy said Friday. “That’s all I can really ask of myself. I know I’ve got the game. That’s all I need. I just need to go out and play my game and play my golf over the next two days and that’s all I can do.
Rory McIlroy heads into the weekend tied for third at the British Open. REUTERS“If Cam Smith goes out and shoots another two rounds like he did the first two days, I’m going to have a really hard time to win the tournament. So, I’ve just got to go out and do the best I can and worry about myself and hopefully that’s good enough.’’
McIlroy boosted his round with a birdie on the difficult 17th to get to 10-under and had a chance to birdie 18, a drivable par-4, but he settled for par.
“After birdieing 17, it would have been nice to make a three at 18 but I would have taken playing the last two at 1-under anyway,’’ he said. “I just did it in the reverse of what I was thinking I would do it — 4-3, instead of 3-4.’’
McIlroy, who had an afternoon tee time, said he watched the TV coverage early in the day and found the course gettable. Yet he parred the first four holes, which tested his patience.
“Watching the coverage earlier on, the course looked easy — it was one of those, you needed to go out and make birdies,’’ he said. “You had to go out and play well and make birdies, because everyone was doing that this morning. And I got off to a quiet start, but then I sort of came to life around the middle of the round.’’
Rory McIlroy looks at his second shot on the 15th hole. APHe said he must be patient over the weekend.
“Just keep hitting good golf shots, limit the mistakes,’’ he said. “I made two bogeys from, two three-putts from just being too far away on the green. But apart from that, you know, that’s sort of just keep plugging away, birdie the holes that you’re supposed to birdie out here and minimize the danger whenever you can.’’
McIlroy has spoken this week like a player confident in his game.
“I’ve felt pretty much in control of everything,’’ he said. “And I think the results and the consistency have backed that up.’’
