Rory McIlroy Recalls Each Shot Of Record-Breaking Portrush Round

Rory McIlroy, who broke the Royal Portrush course record when he was just a wee lad of 16, returned this week to the site of his former glory hoping to kick-start his foundering season on home turf.

McIlroy, whose girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, was following him around the course during Thursday’s first round after her elimination from Wimbledon, entered the Irish Open field with four missed cuts in his last five events. The 23-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, hoped to put all that behind him with a strong showing on the course where he fired a 61 just seven years ago.

“I can basically remember every shot. I remember I missed a six footer on the first for birdie and could have been better,” McIlroy told reporters on Wednesday. “Just one of those days where everything is on song. I turned on 3‑under, birdied 9, eagled 10, birdied 11, parred 12 and 13, and then birdied my way in. Basically didn’t miss a shot from there.

“That was seven years ago; time goes pretty quickly,” McIlroy noted. “It’s a different golf course now, a few new tee boxes, and I couldn’t have gone on a better day, that day when I did shoot 61.”

This week’s field includes countrymen and fellow major champs Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke. Reigning PGA titleholder Keegan Bradley, whose family hailed from Ireland, was also aboard, hoping for some hints on how to play next month’s British Open -- his first Open Championship.

“I don’t have any links experience except in America, which is nothing compared to this,” Bradley said. “I’ve played links courses in America, but they just don’t play like this. They don’t have these humps and the stuff that’s been here for hundreds of years.”

McIlroy, who said he worked hard for the previous 10 days, was looking forward to setting his game back on the right track. Even with a missed cut at the U.S. Open, however, he said he was pleased with how he was playing.

“My game feels in good shape,” McIlroy said. “In a way it couldn’t be a better time to come back here and play Portrush. It brings back so many good memories, and you can feed off that, and that gives you some confidence.”

He was also hoping to use his Irish Open appearance as a warm-up for the Brits’ national championship.

“If nothing else, I think it’s a great week of preparation, and the next couple of weeks coming up,” he said. “I got back home at the weekend and the weather was not particularly good, but dragged myself out and hit balls and I was like, this could actually be very beneficial for me over the next few weeks.”

For sure, McIlroy has made no secret in the past that links golf was not exactly his favorite.

“Yeah, I want to try to become a better wind player and better bad weather player, and the only way to do that is by playing in it,” he said. “It would be nice to go out there, and if it is bad weather this week, play well, and that will give me a bit of confidence going into The Open, if it does happen to be bad weather there, too.”