Rory McIlroy pleased to stay in contention at The 145th Open
By Raz Mirza
Last Updated: 15/07/16 10:11am
Former Open champion Rory McIlroy felt he bounced back well to card a two-under-par round of 69 on the opening day at Royal Troon.
The 2014 winner at Hoylake had reached four under par after eight holes - including a birdie on the famous Postage Stamp where he had taken nine in practice - but his round was in danger of unravelling when he double-bogeyed the 13th and dropped another shot on the next.
However, the 27-year-old, who missed the defence of the Claret Jug last year because of injury, bounced back with a birdie on the 15th and was satisfied to get his bid for a second title off to a solid start.
"You really need to make hay on the front nine with a lot of these holes playing downwind," Northern Ireland's McIlroy said. "I knew that was where the majority of the scores were going to come from.
"Thankfully after getting off to a pretty slow start I was able to make a run of birdies there and finished the front nine pretty well and then as you saw on the back nine, it's very difficult today."
McIlroy is seeking his fifth major title and remains in contention after negotiating some tricky holes midway through his round.
"I felt that 10 and 11 were probably two of the hardest holes on the course, but I felt that I negotiated those pretty well and I actually hit two of the best shots all day on 13 and ended up taking six so that was disappointing.
"I think that stayed with me on 14, but to bounce back with a birdie on 15 was good. It would have been nice to pick up one in the last three, but as I said something in the 60s was a solid start."
Watch the video at the top of the page to hear McIIroy reflecting on his round with Tim Barter at the Sky Cart.
