There was a lick of breeze riffling the long grass at Royal Portrush on Wednesday morning, and a lot of swirling talk besides. “Have you seen him?” “I heard he’s over by the putting green.” “He’s on the range.” “I heard he’s on the 1st now.” Round here everyone’s either looking for Rory McIlroy, looking at Rory McIlroy, or looking back on Rory McIlroy. A stretch of time watching him play is the one thing everyone wants to tick off during their day at the Open, along with a trip to the spectator village and a stop at the golf shop. You can track his progress around the grounds by keeping one ear open for the whispers.
Sometimes all this is wind at McIlroy’s back, others it seems to be blowing into his face. Last time the Open was here, in 2019, it threw him so far off course that he hooked his opening drive into the crowd and out of bounds, then hooked his provisional tee shot to the left, snagged his club on the rough, lost his ball for a moment, had to take a drop when he finally found it again because of an unplayable lie, and then missed his putt for triple bogey. His chances of winning a tournament for which he had spent four years preparing were good as done by the time he made it to the2nd tee. McIlroy being the man he is, he went out and scored 65 the very next day, and ended up missing the cut by one.
