Back at venue of Open debut, Mcilroy focuses on positives

CARNOUSTIE: Rory Mcilroy was the low amateur in his Open Championship debut as a bubbly 18-yearold at Carnoustie in 2007. Eleven summers later, he is desperate to roll back the years as he hunts for his first major since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

It’s not that he wants to have the same golf swing. Or the fuzzy hairstyle that made him so popular back then. The 29-year-old from Northern Ireland just wants to have a similar mind-set.

Champion in 2014, he missed the tournament the next year fol- lowing a freak football accident, but has finished inside the top five in the last two championships

“It’s great to be back. It doesn’t seem like 11 years ago that The Open was here last. Hopefully, I can create some more good memories this week,” said Mcilroy, now ranked eighth in the world with just one win (Arnold Palmer Invitational) in the last two years.

“I think sometimes I need to get back to that attitude where I play carefree and just happy to be here. It was my first Open Championship. I mean, I was just trying to soak everything in, and I was just so grateful to be here.

“If you’re happy in what you’re doing and you’re just happy to be here, I feel like a golf tournament is where I feel the most comfortable. It’s where I feel like I can 100% be myself and express myself.

“I think sometimes, with the pressure that’s maybe put on the top guys to perform at such a high level every week, that starts to weigh on you a little bit. But, yeah, like I look back at those pictures, and the more I can be like that kid, the better.”

While many players talked about the dangers of hitting their driver on a hard and bouncy Carnoustie, where the fairways seem to be faster than the greens, Mcilroy said he will use the big club.