PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — At this time six years ago, Rory McIlroy was already on his way home, heartbroken about missing the cut in his first “home” British Open.
McIlroy famously missed the cut at the 2019 Open the last time it was played at Portrush, a course 60 miles from his boyhood home and where he set the course record at the time with a 61 at age 16.
This time at Portrush, McIlroy is very much in the mix to chase a second Claret Jug after shooting a second-round 69 on Friday to stand at 3-under par. That was five shots off the lead when McIlroy completed his round, with players still in the midst of their rounds.
“Another solid day,’’ McIlroy said afterward. “A couple under, improved a little bit on (Thursday), hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway and into some of these greens.’’
Indeed, one day after McIlroy hit only 3-of-14 fairways, he hit half of them on Friday. A day after hitting 12-of-18 greens in regulation, he was on 14 of them Friday.
“It was a good day,’’ he said. “I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall in a decent position heading into the weekend.’’
McIlroy said he’s “excited for that opportunity’’ to play on the weekend this time at Portrush.
“I didn’t have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I’m very excited for that,’’ he said. “I feel like my game’s definitely good enough to make a run.’’
Looking back on 2019, when he shot himself out of the tournament with an opening-round 79, McIlroy said, “I feel like I let myself down more than I let the fans down, but I definitely felt like it was a hard pill to swallow.
“This time, I’ve just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that. I’ve been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I’m going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.
“It’s incredible to play in front of these fans,’’ he went on. “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. I count myself very grateful and very lucky that I’m in this position, and I’m excited for the weekend.’’
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