McIlroy survives fog, wind to fire 69 at U.S. Open

McIlroy 69 – Rory McIlroy returned to Shinnecock Hills after missing the cut in 2018 and played his opening round with the composure of a man built for majors—posting a 1-under 69 after conditions delayed play by two hours and wind roared through the back nine moments late

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — When Rory McIlroy teed it up at Shinnecock Hills in the U.S. Open eight years ago, he began with an 80. It was the sort of score that turns a weekend into a lesson.

Thursday. the scene looked different almost immediately: fog pushed the start back by two hours. the rhythm of the day was thrown off. and the wind made every swing feel like a negotiation. Still, McIlroy adjusted quickly, steadied the round when it mattered, and finished the first round with a 1-under 69.

It’s a swing that tells its own story—McIlroy was 11 shots better in the opening round this year than he was at Shinnecock in 2018. He came in with a couple of stumbles in the final few holes, but the overall message stayed clear: with the conditions, he didn’t need heroics to stay afloat.

“ I think with the conditions today, anything under par or anything around even par is a good score,” McIlroy said.

After the fog delay, he was just one shot back of the lead held by Sam Stevens when his round ended. McIlroy also found the kind of early momentum that can calm a windy, delayed day: he was 2 under through his first three holes before the course started charging back.

He gave those birdies back with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 16. The wind was so strong at No. 13 that his hat blew off when he completed his swing. But McIlroy didn’t spiral—he answered with a birdie on the par-4 3rd, then landed one of the defining moments of the round when he made an eagle on No. 5.

That eagle was McIlroy’s fourth of his U.S. Open career, and it was also his first on a par five.

“I was trying to pitch the ball like 180, and I ended up pitching the ball like 190. I carried that pitching wedge 190 yards. It just shows how strong the wind is out there,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to have a wedge in your hand with second shots on a par five. and with the greens still being receptive. I could get the ball to stop on that green (and) it was nice to hole the putt.”.

The hole between the best and the most chaotic moments seemed to capture what’s changed in his U.S. Open tournament life. After a drive went way left and his approach went way right. McIlroy was left in the fescue with a testy lie next to the green. He pitched on to 18 feet and rolled in the par-saver.

He framed that development more personally when he looked back on 2018. He missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills that year, flew home after the week, and then—by his account—started correcting a belief system that had drifted out of line.

He recalled that after missing the cut at Shinnecock in 2018. he went to the next week’s PGA Tour event and remembers being “so much” in his comfort zone. He said he thought to himself he had things backwards—he should have been comfortable at the major. not chasing a version of his game that felt different.

“I remember flying back from Dubai at the end of 2018, and I would keep, like, a journal or a diary. I wrote in it that from 2019 going forward. I’m going to build my game to compete at the major championships and excel at the toughest tests that we have. ” McIlroy said. “Working on the things that you need to do well to excel at (majors). which is flighting the ball. hitting your numbers. wedge play. short game. putting. Which is all the stuff that I feel like I’ve improved over the last few years.”.

That work shows in the way he’s carried early success at the U.S. Open. McIlroy has been inside the top 10 at the conclusion of the first round six times previously, and each time he converted the solid start into a top-10 finish on Sunday night.

If he were to win this week, it would also put him in rare company: he would become the seventh golfer in history to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season, with Jordan Spieth 11 years ago being the last to pull off the double.

After McIlroy briefly took the lead with his eagle, the closing stretch made its own case. He bogeyed both Nos. 8 and 9 after two bad iron shots left him in tough spots to get up-and-down.

Even so, he sounded satisfied by the bigger task—staying in the tournament when the day was quirky and the wind was never forgiving.

“It was a day to really just keep yourself in the tournament and not shoot yourself out of it. which is exactly what I did eight years ago here. ” McIlroy said. “Sort of went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good. and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there. that’s always a bonus. But really just minimizing the mistakes. I did that for the most part today.”.

The early scoring had plenty of other storylines on Thursday morning. Ludvig Aberg posted a matching 1-under 69, and Ben James also produced a 1-under 69 after playing his professional debut last week at the RBC Canadian Open.

Keith Mitchell shot an even-par 70 with a round that swung violently between nines: he opened with a 41 on his first nine before shooting a 29 on his back nine. He is the only golfer in U.S. Open history to shoot 40 or worse on one nine and break 30 on the other nine within the same round. per stats guru Justin Ray.

Scottie Scheffler carded a 2-over 72 as he went after the career grand slam for the first time. Canadians Ben Silverman and Nick Taylor both shot 4-over 74.

Silverman’s day carried extra weight. He was essentially on the first tee when play was suspended earlier in the morning, forcing him to repeat the entirety of his warm-up routine—right down to eating a second breakfast—before he could finally continue.

For McIlroy, the fog delay and the wind didn’t just test his shotmaking. They tested his ability to manage the moment. He did it well enough to start the week one shot behind the pace—close enough to feel the pressure, calm enough to handle it.

U.S. Open Rory McIlroy Shinnecock Hills Sam Stevens Ludvig Aberg Ben James Keith Mitchell Scottie Scheffler Ben Silverman Nick Taylor golf news