Rory McIlroy was much improved on day two at The Open Championship, but the Northern Irishman knows he needs something special on Saturday to get back in contention – something he did 20 years ago would certainly help
After his second round of the 153rd Open, Rory McIlroy was again recalling his visit to Royal Portrush two decades ago.
He told us: “I was saying to Tim Barter on Sky that it was 20 years ago that I played the North of Ireland here, and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d be coming back as a grand slam champion with the support of a nation behind me, trying to win an Open Championship.”
What McIlroy did not mention was that, during that North of Ireland Championship, he shot, as a 16-year-old, a round of 61 that is still spoken about in wondrous tones in the clubhouse of this storied course. Fast forward to 2025 and how McIlroy could do with another one of those over the weekend.
And here is the exciting thing. In his post-round demeanour and words, backed up by elements of his second round 69, there were signs that he clearly believes he will go low over the next two days.
Yes, it is a sizeable gap to the top of the leaderboard and really low scores are at a premium on this set-up.
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McIlroy explained why, saying: “It’s one of these places where you know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie, and everyone sort of has to play the golf course the same way. Everything becomes pretty bunched.”
But then he mentioned the possibility of having “one of those out-of-the-blue days” – and no-one does out-of-the-blue quite like Rory. The key, of course, will be his performance off the tee.
When he almost sprayed one out of bounds on the second hole – and had to take a penalty drop from an unplayable lie, so deep was his ball buried in the fescue – the omens were not good.
But it got better as the round went on and while hitting four out of 14 fairways, as opposed to two on Thursday, is hardly anything to put up in lights, he was most accurate on the back nine, suggesting he had found the tweak to sort his problem. And his birdie on the par-5 12th was the template for what he has to do in rounds three and four.
A drive of over 300 yards that split the fairway and a towering mid-iron to 16 feet to set up an eagle attempt that shaved the hole. It was trademark McIlroy and, on another day – hopefully, moving day – those eagle putts will drop.
“I hit it in play a little bit more so it was nice to have some looks out of the fairway into some of the greens,” McIlroy smiled.
And he will need a lot more of those looks out of the fairway on Saturday if he is to put pressure on the leaders over the final two days. But in an effort that took him to three under for the tournament, there were strong hints that his A-game could emerge any time soon.
The quality and quantity of players ahead of him makes a shot at victory a formidable challenge but if anyone has the tools to meet that challenge, it is McIlroy.
As this golf course found out a long time before most of us.