As Austin Eckroat shot 62 to set the pace at TPC River Highlands, the world number two made 108 feet of putts to share second in the clubhouse with US Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley and Wydham Clark, who apologised for smashing lockers at Oakmont.
“It was good,” McIlroy said. “I said yesterday, this is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of it’s a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn’t quite as severe.
“You can give yourself plenty of chances for birdies, which Keegan and I did today.
“Overall, it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you’re in a two-ball like that we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, too, that’s nice, as well.”
As for Clark, he confessed he was responsible for the broken lockers at Oakmont.
“I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,” said the former US Open champion, who missed the cut by a shot last week.
“I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened.
“But I’d also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up. I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team.”
It was also a good day for Leona Maguire, who was just four shots off the lead after opening with a battling level par 72 in the KPMG Women’s PGA in Texas.
The Co Cavan star, who arrived at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco struggling for form on the back of four successive missed cuts, made two birdies and two bogeys in a solid round as Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul shot 68 to head Australia’s Minjee Lee by one stroke.
On the HotelPlanner Tour, Max Kennedy (23) planned a dip in the sea to cool off after scorching to a 10-under-par course record 60 to grab the lead in the Blot Play9 Golf in Brittany.
The Royal Dublin rookie (23) made six birdies and two eagles in a career-low round at Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André to lead by four strokes from England’s James Morrison.
“Yeah, very happy,” said 72nd-ranked Kennedy, who can take a massive leap this week in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards.
“Obviously, a very nice round. I didn’t miss a whole lot of shots, and it was even nicer to save a good par on the last.
“It would have been nice to give myself a chance on the last for a 59, but still, I’ll take a 60.”
While Kilkenny’s Mark Power was joint fourth after a 66, Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy followed an eagle two at his first hole with a quintuple bogey 10 at the next, the 11th, en route to an 84.
Meanwhile, County Louth’s Gavin Tiernan (19) used all his links experience to battle his way into the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.
But while he beat Belgium’s Jarno Tollenaire by two holes before seeing off France’s Gaspar Glaudas 3&2 to take his place in the last eight, he’s not dreaming of the Masters place awarded to the champion just yet.
“No, I’m just taking it hole by hole, one shot at a time,” said the East Tennessee State University star, who will face Estonia’s Richard Teder in the quarter-finals. “That’s been my motto this week, just one shot at a time.”