'I need to shoot something in the 60s tomorrow and I will be right there for the weekend.'
RORY McILROY TOOK encouragement from his fighting finish after recording a level-par first-round 71 at the Open on Thursday.
It might even have been worse after he found a greenside bunker at the par-five 18th and needed two shots to escape the sand trap.The challenge and drama of links golf. Encapsulated by @McIlroyRory. pic.twitter.com/KqZHhIm9ZPYet he held his nerve to save par from 10 feet and keep himself within five strokes of joint-leaders Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo and Christo Lamprecht.“You are just hoping to make par somehow and get out of there,” said McIlroy of the final hole.
“I was probably hoping for a bit more at the start of the day but, overall, two over through 12 – to get it back to even for the day, I’m pretty pleased with that.McIlroy, who is bidding to end a nine-year major drought this week, believes he has given himself a platform to build on in the coming days.
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