"I feel the support of an entire country out there" - McIlroy digs deep to keep Open dream alive

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot on the second hole during Day One of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 17, 2025 in Portrush, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy felt the support of “an entire country” kept him going as he overcame a mid-round wobble and finished strongly to keep his Open hopes alive at Royal Portrush.

The world number two overcame a nervous opening bogey and raced to three-under after 10 holes before bouncing back from three bogeys in his next four holes to card a one-under 70 that left him just three shots off the lead.

“Yeah, it was good,” McIlroy said. “I had it going three-under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well, played the last four at one-under, and it was nice to shoot under par."

The Holywood star struggled to find fairways in blustery conditions but matched Shane Lowry as Harris English, Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, China’s Haotong Li, England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout shot four-under 67s to set the pace.

“It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort.”

Rory McIlroy acknowledges the crowd on the first green. Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A via Getty Images)

As for the support, he felt like he dealt with their expectations better than he did in 2019, when he opened with a 79,

“Absolutely incredible,” he said. “Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So there's that little bit of added pressure.

“I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.”

He was surprised nobody shot better than four-under and was relieved to follow a 12-foot par save at the 15th with a birdie at the 17th, where he had to hack. his second out of deep rough.

“I thought someone might have gone out there and shot six or seven today,” he said. “Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am.

“The (15th) was a big putt, especially having bogeyed three of the last four at that point. That was important. It was a huge putt to keep whatever momentum I had. Then after that, playing those last three holes at one-under was great.”