Rory Mcilroy earned himself a welcome lie-in – and the chance to spend more time dreaming about how his Major championship drought could soon be over, thanks to a crucial final hole birdie.
McIlroy was one of the last men to finish as darkness descended at Torrey Pines, after the first round of the US Open was delayed by ninety minutes because of thick fog.
Thirty six players were not so lucky, including joint leader Louis Oosthuizen, and they will require an early alarm call to return and finish their opening rounds.
McIlroy walked off the 18th with his smile beaming through the gloom – finishing was a relief, finishing by nailing an eight footer to secure a one under par 70 was a real tonic.
That was three shots better than his average first round score in the seven years since he won the last of his four Major titles at the 2014 USPGA.
And seeing his name just three shots behind the early leaders was a ‘new’ experience – well, recently, at least -after opening scores of 76 and 75 at the Masters and the USPGA left him much too far off the pace to be a factor in those events.
He said: “The birdie on 18 was awesome. I mean, that putt was like, ‘I think it’s straight, I’ll hit it straight and we’ll see’. But it was nice to get done, get an extra hour of sleep, and it was a bonus to birdie it as well.
“It all felt good. I got off to a really good start with a birdie at the first and I played well, I played solid. I didn’t miss a green until the seventh hole and I was able to chip that in, which was another bonus.
“But that’s the key around here, you can get away with some wayward shots off the tee, and I did today, but I was able to recover well and hit greens. And if you can just keep hitting greens out here that’s the name of the game and I did that well.
“There was nothing about my game that I struggled with. Everything felt pretty good. I think as the course gets firmer we’re just going to really have to dial in.”
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Tournament favourite Jon Rahm also sprinted through his final hole to complete a two under par 69, the same score as Brooks Koepka.
Koepka, another four-time Major champion, has now shot six straight rounds in the 60s at the US Open, tying the record set by Sam Snead 73 years ago.
He and Rahm were two shots behind clubhouse leader Russell Henley and joint USPGA runner-up Oosthuizen, who will have a 35 footer for birdie at the eighth – his 17th – when he comes back today, with a par five to finish.
But Rory has finally given the big boys a reason to look over their shoulders, and wonder what he is up to.
