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.”
Scottie Scheffler fired an eagle and seven birdies in an eight-under 62 to grab a share of the lead as he chases his fourth win in his last six starts.
The world number one leapfrogged Rory McIlroy at the top of the FedEx Cup standings thanks to wins in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the US PGA, and the Memorial Tournament.
He was also joint seventh in last week’s US Open without playing his best golf and insists he drew confidence from his performance at Oakmont.
“The way I swung it the first couple rounds was pretty poor,” Scheffler said of the US Open following an impressive opening round at TPC River Highlands.
“I mean, I was not getting the ball in play. I don’t know if you saw much of it, but it wasn’t very pretty.
“But I was very proud of the way I stayed in the tournament, and I still gave myself a chance to win.
“That gives me a lot of confidence going forward that I could – especially on a golf course like Oakmont where you know you have to get the ball in play – and I wasn’t able to do that in the beginning of the tournament.
“And to hang in there, flirt with the cut line on Friday, have a good finish to my round Friday, kind of bounce back, get myself back in the tournament to give myself an opportunity to win was I felt like pretty good. I gained some confidence from that.
“It’s also just good reflection knowing that it’s really important for me just to stay in it mentally, and I felt like last week was, oddly enough, as good as I’ve been mentally on the course throughout the season.”
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.”