I just want to say as personally knowing the guy and having played golf with him, I wish him the bets of luck for the rest of the week. He is playing fantastic and is definitely going to be one to look out for next seasons when he turns pro after the walker cup.

Anyone else see him play today? From distance control to hitting fairways he was the best today.

Only player in the field not to have a bogey - obviously in great control of his game. I hope he can keep it up.

I am originally from Northern Ireland myself too.

Well done Rory! His swing is PURE! He even missed a short putt in that round...
Looks like he could be on tour in a few years with that swing

The first time I heard his name I thought Kevin Costner's character from Tin Cup was doing well at the Open.

18 yrs old and shooting 68 @ the Open Champ. ALL HAIL RORY ALL HAIL RORY I hope he continues to play great

A fantastic performance.

finally a brit to contend with tiger ?

Potentially he could be a world beater.

Some commentator even said today that rory's swing is the one tiger has been trying to find for the past 5 years.

He said in the interview with the BBC after he had been swinging a golf club since he was 2!

and Darren Clarke was his mentor and he had know Darren since he was 10 years old.

brooky333

know the guy quite well myself and get coached by the same teacher m bannon @ bangor (the similarities stop there, unfortunatley) not surprised hes doing so well, hes an awesome player and looks like he will be turning pro after the walker cup in September.

good luck

have to admit, the kid's got serious game. and to those of you who know him, ask him where he got that money Puma jacket he was wearing today haha

I have also played golf with Rory when I was playing in the Utah Junior Golf Association, and from my perspective on things back then I could have told anyone that asked that he was going to be a contender some day. Just one thing about him when he was younger though is that he was not even as close to as big as he is now! Either way he is a very good player and I hope for the best in his career as a professional.

Rory even has that little dip in his swing like Tiger does.

Whatta great round, and a fantastic swing. Plus, he was using the '07 SC British Open headcover!

I made a Freudian slip when talking to my father about him and said Roy Macavoy. The names are just rediculously similar. He must hate that movie.

The kid definately has some amazing talent.
Did anybody else see the 2 iron he hit on 18? That thing was an absolutly t*t rocket! I can't believe how smooth but also so fast his swing is.
Hopefully he continues to play well, makes it to the weekend, and finishes in a respectable position. Either way, what he's already accomplished today was incredible in itself.

Freudian?

How was your mother involved?

Poor kid is +4 thru 14. Im Irish so I'm really pulling for him, hopefully he finishes strong!

I watched yesterday and it was a joy watching him. I hope he does well! Hell, I'd even root for him to win the darn thing!

Hats off to him!

Finished strong, and looks to be the only amature to make the cut, he putted very poorly today, and wasn't quite on with his irons, hopefully he will finish with 2 strong rounds.

Did anyone see the speed figures on Rory's swing.

112MPH swing speed

166MPH ball speed

297 yards carry

I think TV does't do the justice.

brooky333

112 MPH swing speed sounds slow from what I saw. I'm not saying it's not true....it just looked like he was swinging faster than that.

Its not even funny how pure Rory hits his irons, his ball striking is on the same par with Tiger's. If he gets the putter going tomorrow it wouldn't surprise me if he went low.

Good luck to Rory, and I would love to see him finish in good position!

I agree.

He looks closer to Tiger in swingspeed than that, and the sound was definitely different than others.

Well, let's not get carried away here.

do they call him tin cup a lot? I bet he hates that

I imagine they don't call him that at all. McIlroy is a reasonably common name in Northern Ireland and doesn't sound much like McAvoy. Anyway, Tin Cup made less of a splash over here. Now a golfer called Gilmore ......

What do you mean tin cup?

The movie "Tin Cup" had Kevin Costner play a golf pro called Roy McAvoy, so I guess some think Rory McIlroy sounds like that.

I don't imagine it's much of a problem with the mickey-takers...

My mate Danny Noonan on the other hand...

to anyone following his career, his perforamnce this week is really no surprise...

how bad would this appear though..
Shoots -3 1st round at the british open beating the world number one 3rd place going into the second day
and shooting 3 over his handicap haha :)Thats mad!!

After watching both of them warm up on the range yesterday among many others, it's not much of a stretch. His ball striking is pure. He was easily noticed as one of the best ball strikers out on the range. And besides, after his warmup he didn't walk up to #1 and snipe one into the water.

or spray it left and right all over the course!!

lol I thought that too