HOYLAKE, England — This week was always going to be about Rory McIlroy.
The 34-year-old from Northern Ireland, who entered this British Open as the favorite to win and thus end his nine-plus year drought without a win in a major, saved his round on the back nine Thursday to finish at even-par 71, five shots off the lead.
McIlroy struggled for much of the day, failing to hole putts, and was in jeopardy of falling far behind the leaders.
But he rallied on the back nine with birdies on 14 and 15 to draw even after he had slipped to 2-over, and then he made a terrific par save on the difficult par-5 18th hole, which had been wreaking havoc with other players.
“I wouldn’t have been too happy walking off the 18th with a bogey, especially after the two shots I hit in there,’’ McIlroy said. “It’s just when you hit it into these bunkers, you’re sort of riding your luck at that point and hoping it’s not up against one of those revetted faces [which it was and it took him two shots to get out of]. Overall, 2-over through 12, to get it back to even for the day, I’m pretty pleased with that.’’
McIlroy said the day tested his patience, particularly after rimming out a 3-foot par putt on No. 8.
“I needed to stay patient out there,’’ he said. “It wasn’t the easiest of days. But I’m still right in there. Just go out there in the morning, shoot something in the 60s, and I’ll hopefully be right in the mix. A few putts started to go in on the back nine for me, which was nice to see. Hopefully I’ve got my eye in the line and I can build on that over the next three days.
“I’m pleased. I was probably hoping for a little bit more at the start of the day, but as I got out there and the conditions got a tiny bit tougher, as I said, being 2-over through 12 and getting it back to even par, I was pretty happy with that.’’
The treacherous par-3 17th hole didn’t produce mass carnage during the opening round Thursday, but it did have its share of victims.
In the early wave of tee times, Lucas Herbert’s round was ruined at 17 when he took a triple-bogey 6. Herbert was 3-under par and tied for the lead, but lost all those shots on that one hole and finished even-par for the day.
Later, Phil Mickelson arrived on 17 at 1-over par and playing solidly.
He took a damaging double bogey, however, after hitting his tee shot into the left bunker and hitting his second shot across the green into the right greenside bunker.
Mickelson proceeded to make a mess of the 18th with a tee shot out of bounds and a bunker shot that hit the bunker wall and stayed in the sand.
That led to a triple-bogey 8 on that final hole to leave Mickelson with a 6-over 77.
He will need to go very low in the second round to make the cut on Friday.
Interestingly, Rickie Fowler birdied the 17th to get to 2-under, then made a mess of the 18th, on which he took triple bogey after hitting two balls out of bounds. He finished the day 1-over.
Tommy Fleetwood, who’s from Southport, about an hour north of Hoylake, had a special day, tying for the lead at 5-under par as the locals cheered him on during his home game.
“I am one of them, one of the guys that’s out there,’’ Fleetwood said. “I’m a fan of the game. I’m from this area. I feel at home, and to feel that support, it means a lot. Of course, you can easily put too much pressure on yourself. You can easily try too hard.
“But just having that support and people egging you on, whether you’re hit a good shot or a bad shot, good hole, bad hole, that just pushes you on. It’s an amazing opportunity and an amazing thing to have the chance to do. Such a special opportunity to play so close to home, but have that support and play an Open, glad I gave them some good golf to watch.’’
Matthew Jordan, who’s been a member at Royal Liverpool since he was a child, hit the first tee shot to open the Open on Thursday morning and went on to shoot a 2-under 69.
“Amazing,’’ Jordan said. “I’m kind of running out of words to describe it. It was crazy, mental, loud, everything that I could have wished for. I’m certainly trying to think of a better experience than that, and I don’t think I can.
“Obviously, with the occasion and everything going on to start with, I’m really happy to certainly break 70. I think that’s one thing, if you do that, you certainly can’t be displeased.’’
Jordan Spieth and the British Open go together. Spieth, who won the British in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, shot a 2-under 69.
It was his 20th round in the 60s at the Open since 2015, which is eight more than any other player in that span.
Defending champion Cam Smith shot a 1-over 72, as did Westchester’s Cam Young, who finished runner-up to Smith at St. Andrews.