GOLF:Just getting back to play competitive golf provided a sanctuary for Rory McIlroy, writes PHILIP REID

AS THE clock ticked down towards 9.09am, it probably dawned on everyone that a splash of colour a la John Daly’s garish check trousers wouldn’t be a bad thing. Too late, though. The wardrobe police, it seemed, had insisted on greys and blacks to adorn the marquee group of Rickie Fowler, Ernie Els and – to huge roars – Rory McIlroy as they set off on their quest for the Claret Jug. Their attire, all three, matched the grey clouds overhead.

Some five hours later, McIlroy – golf’s current favoured son – walked with a jaunt into the recorder’s hut and signed for an opening 71, one over. If it was a contrast to the last time he’d signed a first-round card, in the US Open at Congressional where he took the Major by the scruff of the neck from day one, there was little hiding the sense of satisfaction that McIlroy was, at last, up and running again in a championship and signing a scorecard for real. For pay! For his pursuit of Majors! Yesterday was as far removed from Congressional as could be. Instead of blue skies, we had grey clouds. Instead of a birdie blitz, we had a grind as the wind and the firm links called for patience, an attribute which McIlroy believes has become the 15th club in his bag.

“I was patient, really patient. Mentally I was very good. I missed a few fairways and from there you can’t really give yourself many chances for birdies,” said McIlroy, who only hit eight of 14 fairways and found 12 of 18 greens in regulation. On days like these, patience can indeed be a virtue and McIlroy, with the wisdom of being a 22-year-old Major champion, used it.

As he put it later: “Patience comes from experience. Every time I play a Major or I play an important event or get myself into contention, it’s just a great experience for me heading into the future. It was a great experience last year at St Andrews shooting 80 in the second round. I learnt a lot from it. And, yeah, it is building that experience up and learning from your mistakes. That’s been the biggest improvement for me this year.”

Patience? McIlroy needed it from the first, where his ball lay side-by-side with Fowler’s over the back fringe. Fowler holed his 70-footer for birdie, while McIlroy – struggling with the pace of the slow greens early on – hit his putt six feet past and missed the return putt. McIlroy suffered two bogeys in his opening three rounds but stuck to his guns. “I know better than most people, you can shoot a high number and put yourself out of the golf tournament,” he admitted.

In fact, McIlroy was to take 31 putts in his round and there were cases of what might have been with genuine birdie putts on the sixth and seventh before he finally managed to sink one on the eighth for his first birdie of the day. He would wait until the 17th before he managed another but, all in all, there was contentment with his day’s work. A “decent score,” is how he described it, adding: “I said yesterday, if the conditions stayed the same I’d take two 70s over the first two days, and if I shoot 69 tomorrow with similar conditions, I’ll be really happy going into the weekend.”

The one thing that irked McIlroy was his failure to birdie either of the two par fives, despite putting himself into good positions off the tee. “I was a little disappointed I didn’t take advantage (of the par fives) but, no, it was definitely a round after the start that could have got away from me. It was nice to hang on . . . . I don’t feel as if I have to do too much differently. I just need to, as I said, keep it tight, keep it on the fairway, hit a few greens and take your birdie putts here and there because I think that’s going to be the key this week, to keep it around even par.”

From the first hole to the 18th, each and every one of McIlroy’s 71 shots was given suitable acknowledgement from the huge galleries who traipsed over the dunes and hillocks. At one point, standing on the 11th tee, McIlroy and Els had looked at a leaderboard to see Thomas Bjorn at six-under. “What is he doing? How is he six-under par?” they asked each other, shaking their heads. Then, they got on with their own tasks on a course which asked many questions of its own.

For McIlroy, almost four weeks on from his US Open triumph, just getting back to play competitive golf provided a sanctuary in its own way. He has grown accustomed to the crowds, to the roars. For him, it was all about playing golf again for a living. “Just to get out there with JP (Fitzgerald) and spend five hours inside the ropes, that’s where I am most comfortable. Doing that. That’s me. I’m in my element when I’m inside the ropes and playing.”