McIlroy races to Open lead

Photo by AP

BETHESDA, Maryland—After’s letdown at the Masters, golfing great Jack Nicklaus had some words of wisdom for the Northern Irishman.

Put pressure on yourself early, Jack Nicklaus told him. Avoid mistakes, too.

Great advice from a man who knows his majors—and executed to perfection in McIlroy’s first major round since he blew his four-shot lead on the last day at Augusta in April.

He didn’t make a bogey Thursday on the way to a 6-under-par 65 at the US Open. He took a three-shot lead over Y.E. Yang and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, the biggest first-day cushion at the Open since 1976.

“He emphasized so much to me about not making mistakes,” McIlroy said, referring to what he’s learned from Nicklaus during visits before and after the Masters collapse. “That was his big thing. He said people lost a lot more majors and gave them to him than he actually won.”

On a day of sublime shotmaking, McIlroy hit 17 greens in regulation, needed only 29 putts and walked away with the first-round lead at a major for the third time in a year.

McIlroy played the bulk of his round in breezy conditions that weren’t present in the morning, when Yang was shooting his 68. Rain that greeted the players early in the morning started falling again as McIlroy was heading to the ninth green—his last hole of the day—but there was no dampening this effort.

He was up by four at Augusta heading into Sunday, but the lead and his chances were gone by the time he got out of Amen Corner. He shot 80. He blamed nobody but himself, called it a learning experience.

Sergio Garcia, British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, American Ryan Palmer, Kim Kyung-tae, Scott Hend and Alexandre Rocha were tied for fourth at 2 under.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell was part of a group of 11 at 1 under.