Rory McIlroy was back to something approaching his best in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, and the world number two finds himself in a share of third place.
It was a polished performance overall on a day where he carded six birdies and zero bogeys, the highlight coming on 17 when, after a pulled iron off the tee, he fearlessly attacked on his lengthy approach over water and then rolled in a 28-footer to move to six-under and to within two of the first-round lead.
“Yeah, it was good,” he said afterwards. “I said yesterday, this is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of it’s a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn’t quite as severe. You can give yourself plenty of chances for birdies, which Keegan and I did today.
“Yeah, overall it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you’re in a two-ball like that and we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, too, that’s nice, as well.”
Though he’s yet to finish higher than seventh in the last decade, it’s a course that he admits to being very fond of and he approves of the changes made since last year – changes, he feels, that have added to the challenge that the course presents.
“I definitely feel like they’ve made a couple of holes a little tougher and just make you think a little bit more. 12, the second hole, as well, the 9th tee shot, moving that tee box over to the right a little bit. Yeah, you can definitely notice a few holes where it’s a little more thought needed.
“I’ve always liked this golf course. Yeah, I think the changes they’ve made have definitely been an improvement.”
After a series of sub-par (by his own incredibly high standards) performances since clinching the Career Grand Slam at Augusta National, the three-time 2025 winner says that it’s more performance that he’s focusing on rather than a fourth victory, though if the former is good enough then it could well lead to the latter.
“I just want to see some good golf and see some better shots,” he admitted. “I think if you concentrate on that and you’re concentrating on your quality of golf and concentrating on just trying to play to the best of your ability, the result will take care of itself.
“There’s no point in thinking about the result right now. I’m just trying to play as good as I can and make good swings, and if I do that enough, more than likely I’ll find myself in a position to have a chance to win.”
McIlroy finds himself two shots behind Austin Eckroat, who set the early clubhouse target thanks to six birdies and an eagle, and Scottie Scheffler who made it to -9 after firing five birdies on the way out and then adding two more and an eagle before dropping his only shot of the day on 17 to slip back to -8.
Shane Lowry was uncharacteristically poor from tee-to-green and it led to five bogeys with just three birdies in a two-over 72, leaving him tied for 60th.
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