PINEHURST, N.C. — Rory McIlroy is not at Pinehurst No. 2 to socialize. That became over the first three days of this week and further crystalized Thursday evening as McIlroy opened the 2024 U.S. Open with a bogey-free 65. That’s good enough to co-lead the event with his Ryder Cup rival, Patrick Cantlay, after 18 holes of play.
McIlroy’s personal life of late has been more public than he would like as it was announced just before the PGA Championship that he was getting divorced. This week of the U.S. Open, it was announced that he and his wife had reconciled and would be remaining together.
Whether for that reason or another, he has been unusually tight-lipped during his run at Pinehurst about anything and everything as he tries for his fifth career major championship and first in nearly 10 years. The normally chatty, jovial Ulsterman has neither been unpleasant nor surly, but he has certainly been shorter and less willing to disclose information regarding his game or otherwise.
The result in Round 1 is something else that is also abnormal for McIlroy: opening a major with a bogey-free round and the lead (he’s led just twice after the first round of a major since 2014).
McIlroy’s…
