Despite being last off Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open, Rory McIlroy made sure he was first off Monday at Royal Portrush.
It proved a wise decision.
These major practice rounds can be a slog, so McIlroy traded the extra sleep for a 6:40 a.m. local starting time to begin his Open Championship prep. Playing as a solo, McIlroy was alone on the Harry Colt layout for nearly two hours before other players teed off, and shortly before noon, McIlroy was signing autographs for the fans behind the 18th green. Then the horn sounded, and while others had their practice rounds suspended because of inclement weather, McIlroy had plenty of time to eat and relax before his 2 p.m. presser.
“The last couple of majors, at the PGA and the U.S. Open, the practice rounds take so long,” McIlroy said. “I feel like there’s 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can’t get good work done, good preparation. I didn’t come up here ahead of time to try and get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around. So that was the reason that I did that today.
“It worked out well. Obviously, we had that weather delay there, and it was nice to get 18 holes in early and feel like I got a productive day of work in.”
McIlroy’s rush to Northern Ireland after his T-2 in Scotland on Sunday evening wasn’t without challenge either. McIlroy’s private jet was delayed on tarmacs leaving Scotland and upon landing in Belfast. As a result, McIlroy didn’t arrive at his accommodations until 1 a.m. and got just four hours of sleep.
Luckily, he was energized a bit halfway through his practice round.
“By the time I got to the back nine today, there was a nice crowd out there,” McIlroy said. “After the 18th and seeing all the kids and signing autographs, it’s really, really nice, and I’m sure that’ll just build as the week goes on.”
Still, McIlroy had one thing on his mind once his media obligations were over:
“I’m looking forward to taking a nap after this.”