rorymcilroyirishopenr167.jpg
That's 360 down the pipe. @EuropeanTour

Rory McIlroy shot a 5-under 67 to open the Irish Open at the K Club on Thursday. He trails leader Danny Willett by two strokes after 18 holes. Rory's round, as most over the last few months have been, was an exquisite display of his irons and driver. He averaged 290 yard off the tee (including that monster 360-yard drive you see below) and hit 17-of-18 greens in regulation.

To sum that up, McIlroy had 32 putts on the day and 35 shots that were not putts. He seems capable of somehow playing a round in which he hits more putts than shots.

"It's day one," said McIlroy about the 67. There's a lot of golf to play but it's a very encouraging start. I think there was more out there. I thought it was a very comfortable 67."

McIlroy came into the week a little miffed about how his recent play (which has been admittedly on point other than with his putter) has been perceived.

"I'm relaxed about it," McIlroy told Golfweek. "It frustrates me the negative spin that's being put on it. I know expectations for myself are higher than other players, but you look at my record this year with a third in Abu Dhabi, a fifth in Dubai, a third at Doral, fourth in the Match Play. My bad weeks are top 10s, basically.

"So it frustrates me that the narrative is there's something missing in Rory's game or what's wrong with Rory? I don't feel like there's anything wrong. It's very close. It's not as far away as I feel some people think."

"I know that if I go out and play my best or close to my best, that I'm going to have a great chance to win this week, next week, basically all season, because I'm in a really good place with where my game is."

I actually agree with him. So do the advanced stats. Rory has essentially played as well as you can play without having won this calendar year. It will come though. Maybe this week at the Irish Open. Maybe not. But it will come, and McIlroy has put himself in a good position again for it to happen sooner rather than later.

"It's a great day one," said McIlroy. "Hopefully it entices people to come out and watch the golf over the next three days. Having Danny here is a huge help, and him playing like he did today, and me playing like I did, it would be great if we could have a battle over the weekend and get the crowds to flock in.

"I just get goosebumps thinking about it, so I can't really think about it too much now. To win here, no matter what the circumstances are, whether I've won the week before or whether I haven't won in six months, to win the Irish Open would be something that would be very special. I've got off to a great start towards doing that this week. I just have to keep playing the way I did today."