PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Just as a certain Northern Irishman’s golf ball flew left, but not too far left, and safely settled in the rough, the sun peeked out and illuminated Royal Portrush’s magnificent dunesland on what had been a gloomy day, as if to say, "It’s OK, you can breathe now.”

The crowd exhaled. A country exhaled. And so, too, did Rory McIlroy, who then couldn’t help but laugh.

For six years, the lasting image of Rory McIlroy and Royal Portrush was his fateful first tee shot in 2019, which sailed left and out of bounds and began a nightmare day that squashed the dreams of its owner and the thousands of faithful onlookers who wanted to see him crowned.

McIlroy has been asked about that swing countless times. It’s been picked apart, mentally and technically. A host of emotions, expectations and pressure were assigned to what it all meant and who McIlroy was or wasn’t.

That was the baggage McIlroy and the audience carried as they watched the world No. 2 hit an otherwise innocuous tee shot on the first of a marathon 72 holes at The Open Championship. A shot that shouldn’t really mean anything but felt like it meant everything.

A nervous energy hung in the air. The crowds went a dozen deep around the first tee, but McIlroy’s reception was muted. They wanted to explode, but they didn’t know if they could. Not after last time. Please, just be better than last time.

McIlroy’s iron started low and turned over, but was never in danger of going out of bounds. McIlroy wedged his approach out of the rough and onto the green, lagged his first putt to 4 feet and then missed the comebacker and made bogey. Still, it was better than last time. His final tally was, too – a gritty 1-under 70 that left him only three shots from the lead.

How must it feel to return to the place that has caused so much joy and an equal amount of pain? Royal Portrush was the pinnacle of golf for a young McIlroy, raised 60 miles away in Holywood, Northern Ireland. He played it first at age 10 in wonderment and shot a course record 61 in the North of Ireland Amateur at age 16.

Great memories, but much more distant than the painful ones. McIlroy arrived at Portrush this week for the first time since 2019. He was in form leading into The Open then, the tournament favorite from whom so much was expected. Then he shot 79 in the opening round. What? How? He nearly stormed back to make the cut, but fell short. The hometown hero was headed home, but far from here.

His return came with much fanfare, back in Northern Ireland for the first time as a Grand Slam champion. He’s vowed to embrace the atmosphere, not pretend it’s not there — as he did six years ago. It’s better that way. For himself and his fans. Maybe that would lead to more joy and less pain.

“I feel the support of an entire country out there,” McIlroy said, “which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So there's that little bit of added pressure.”

Kids clung to the rope line, ducking under for just a moment if it meant their outstretched hand might connect with McIlroy’s for a high-five. Chants as he walked off every tee box and green: “Go on, Rors!” “We love you!” “Mr. Holywood!”

McIlroy did his best to acknowledge them and keep to the task at hand. It was a round that matched the crowd’s energy – frenetic, unpredictable and all-consuming.

McIlroy quickly brushed aside the opening bogey, holing a 16-foot birdie at the second. He picked up shots on Nos. 5 and 7, making the turn in 2-under. With another birdie on 10, he sat just one off the lead. But all the while, he was struggling with his swing, a two-way miss off the tee catching up with him as the day progressed. He dropped a shot at 11 after missing the fairway and hacking out from the rough. Driving it in fairway bunkers cost him shots at 12 and 14. He hit only two fairways; nobody hit fewer. He ranked outside the top 130 in Strokes Gained.

“It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort,” McIlroy said.

The conditions attributed to it, but the round was always going to be mental for McIlroy. Six years ago, he didn’t know how to handle it. If there’s a positive from that week, it’s that he experienced it and could use it this time around.

“I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago,” McIlroy said.

That’s what Thursday was about. There will be time to dissect if anything’s wrong with his driver, if his strategy is sound and if he can track down Scottie Scheffler and the other talented players in front of him.

Thursday was about starting fresh and moving on and the mental toil that pressure and time place on a person. McIlroy succeeded by those standards.

McIlroy’s alive to fight another day and to hopefully see the sun poke through those clouds and shine down on him again.