THE 153RD OPEN

July 17, 2025

Rory McIlroy

Mixed Zone

Q. Rory well done on a battling performance out there. How was that for you?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was good. I had it going 3-under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well, played the last four at 1-under, and it was nice to shoot under par.

I felt like, once we turned for home, like played 10 and turned back and played 11, the wind picked up a little bit, and it just became that little bit more difficult.

Yeah, it was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort.

Q. What about the support you had out there today?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, absolutely incredible. Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So there's that little bit of added pressure.

I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.

I was sort of surprised -- there's a few guys at 4-under, but I'm surprised 4-under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot 6 or 7 today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am.

Q. How was round 1 compared to six years ago?

RORY McILROY: Just I knew what to expect. It wasn't new to me. So I think just having that experience of six years ago was definitely helpful.

Q. You seemed very measured to the No. 1 tee, From your putting, practice putting, going from there to the 1st tee. What do you make of that?

RORY McILROY: Again, I just think it's back to knowing what to expect. I didn't feel like I was walking into the unknown this time around, where last time I hadn't experienced that before. I hadn't played an Open at home. I didn't know how I was going to feel. I didn't know the reaction I was going to get, where this time I had a better idea of what was going to be coming my way.

Q. The par save on 15, Rory, how important was that? Obviously it spurred that fine finish.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was important. It was a big putt, especially having bogeyed 3 of the last 4 at that point. That was, that was important. It was a huge putt to keep whatever momentum I had. Then after that, playing those last three holes at 1-under was great.