Rory McIlroy claims 'feeling detatched from the tournament' at the Irish Open

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is currently competing at the 2024 Amgen Irish Open. The 69th edition of the tournament is being held from Thursday, September 12 to Sunday, September 15 at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Down.

The World No. 3 had a decent round where he carded 3-under 68. After the first 18 holes, he is tied for fourth with Will Enefer, Fillipo Celli, Thriston Lawrence and Marcus Armitage. Todd Clements is on the top of the leaderboard with a score of 5-under 66.

In the post-round press conference, McIlroy said (via Cool FM News):

"I think it's felt different staying at home. I feel a bit detached from the golf tournament."

Rory McIlroy said that waking up at home was different compared to waking up at a tournament site, where one can hear announcements from the first tee. He said that when at the tournament site, one often starts the day by checking their phone to see how other players started, viewing the leaderboard, and how the course was playing. He further said,

"I think staying an hour away, I've sort of felt a bit detached from the tournament this week, which has actually been quite a nice thing and haven't been so wrapped up in it, which has actually been quite nice." (1:02-1:14)

On the front nine, Mcllroy scored two birdies on the 1st and 8th holes against a bogey on par-4 5th. On the back nine, the 35-year-old notched four birdies on 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes against two bogeys on par-3 14th and par-4 15th.

Talking about the finish, he said:

"16 and 18 are really good birdie chances and after the two bogeys on 14 and 15, I thought if I can get those two back, that would be a good start. And then to obviously get one more back as well and that birdie on 17, yeah, obviously a really nice way to finish."

Rory McIlroy will tee off at 3:00 am ET with Tom McKibbin and Vincent Norrman in the second round of the Amgen Irish Open.

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Rory McIlroy said the leaderboard was 'bunched' and many players will have 'a chance' on Sunday at Irish Open

Rory McIlroy started well at the 2024 Amgen Irish Open. He is tied on fourth with four players and is two shots behind the leader Todd Clements. He carded 3-under 68 in the first round at Royal County Down Golf Club.

Further, 11 players are tied for 9th with two under par, 13 players are tied for 20th with one under par and 18 players are tied for 33rd with even par. Talking about it, McIlroy said (via Cool FM News):

"I think as well, it's so bunched. As you said, you're even par and you're 30th and you're three under and you're fourth. It's so bunched. It's the even if you don't have your game, you can make a lot of pars."

"I think it's going to be one of these tournaments where there's probably going to be a lot of people in with a chance going into Sunday, just the nature of the golf course and how it plays," he added.

Rory McIlroy won the tournament in 2016 when it was known as the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open. And with the strong start, he'd look to win his 18th title on DP World Tour this year. He's also on the top of the Race to Dubai rankings.

The World No. 3 has had a splendid 2024 season with two wins on the PGA Tour and one on the DP World Tour. Let's take a look at Rory McIlroy's performances in the 2024 season:

2023-24 DP World Tournaments

• Dubai Invitational: T2 (62-70-67-67, 266, -18)
• Hero Dubai Desert Classic: 1 (71-70-63-70, 274, -14)

2024 OLY Golf (M) Tournaments

• Olympic Men's Golf Competition: T5 (68-69-66-66, 269, -15)

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T66 (71-74-69, 214, -2)
• The Genesis Invitational: T24 (74-66-69-70, 279, -5)
• Cognizant Classic: T21 (67-67-72-68, 274, -10)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T21 (73-70-68-76, 287, -1)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T19 (65-73-69-72, 279, -9)
• Valero Texas Open: 3 (69-70-72-66, 277, -11)
• Masters Tournament: T22 (71-77-71-73, 292, +4)
• RBC Heritage: T33 (67-68-68-74, 277, -7)
• Wells Fargo Championship: 1 (67-68-67-65, 267, -17)
• PGA Championship: T12 (66-71-68-67, 272, -12)
• RBC Canadian Open: T4 (66-72-65-64, 267, -13)
• the Memorial Tournament: T15 (70-71-73-76, 290, +2)
• U.S. Open: 2 (65-72-69-69, 275, -5)
• Genesis Scottish Open: T4 (65-66-67-68, 266, -14)
• The Open: Missed Cut (78-75, 153, +11)
• FedEx St. Jude Championship: T68 (68-73-74-74, 289, +9)
• BMW Championship: T11 (70-71-70-71, 282, -6)
• TOUR Championship: T9 (69-69-68-66, 272, -16)