Rory McIlroy was happy to shoot under par in the first round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills considering his last experience at the Long Island venue.
His 69 – which included a first eagle at the event in nine years – was 11 strokes better than his opening effort here in 2018.
That 80 was the joint-worst of his major career and led to him missing the cut and despite a sloppy bogey-bogey finish to surrender the lead, the Masters champion sits only one shot back after a fog-delayed and windy first day.
“With the conditions today, anything under par or anything around even par is a good score,” said the world number two, who is seeking to win his first US Open title since making his major breakthrough in 2011.
“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.
“So I 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 minimising the mistakes. I did that for the most part today.
“I didn’t feel like I hit two bad iron shots on the last two holes (but) I put myself in pretty difficult spots and wasn’t able to get it up and down.”
Highlight of McIlroy’s round was the 396-yard drive and a pitching wedge to 11 feet which demolished the 597-yard fifth hole, playing downwind, for his first US Open eagle since Erin Hills in 2017.
It saw him become the first man to get to three under, although two missed greens at the end of his round saw him fall back to one behind little-known 29-year-old American Sam Stevens, yet to win on the PGA Tour in 115 events.
Amateur Ryder Cowan, who came through qualifying, and 2023 champion Wyndham Clark joined Stevens at the top of the leaderboard having started late in the afternoon along with Wolverhampton’s newly-crowned US PGA champion Aaron Rai, who had two birdies in his first four holes.
McIlroy was paired with Ryder Cup colleagues Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg and that team dynamic seemed to make a difference as their group was by far the best in terms of scoring to par.
Aberg, who was two under through 12 holes, also finished one under with the Englishman’s four birdies cancelled out by a quartet of bogeys for a level-par 70.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, making his first attempt at completing the career grand slam, carded a two-over 72 which included four birdies, four bogeys and a double.
The forecast 36mph wind gusts did not materialise later in the day but a steady breeze of around 25mph continued to make things difficult after play had been suspended for two hours after just 30 minutes due to poor visibility from fog.
Players were recalled having initially been held for 30 minutes out on the course and play finally resumed at 9.05am local time (2.05pm BST), meaning later starters faced having to complete their rounds on Friday morning.
