US Open 2017: Rory McIlroy highlights from Round 1

Recapping Rory McIlroy’s opening round at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

Following a five-week absence due to a rib injury, Rory McIlroy struggled in Round 1 of the 2017 U.S. Open with a 78, leaving a lot of work to do over the weekend.

The 2014 U.S. Open champion, who was searching for his first major title in over two years, got off to a terrific start in his opening round on Thursday afternoon at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. In his first outing back from a rib injury, McIlroy hit the green off the tee and sunk a long eagle putt on the par-4 2nd to quickly move to -2.

McIlroy’s round quickly turned sour after that, as he recorded a bogey on the long par-4 third. Another bogey followed on the par-4 8th, as McIlroy slipped to even heading into the back  nine, well behind leader Rickie Fowler, who finished his Round 1 with a 65.

The world’s No. 2 golfer continued to struggle after the turn with his third bogey of the afternoon on the par-4 11th. While McIlroy wasn’t too far out of contention at that point, a double-bogey on the short par-4 15th after getting stuck in the fescue off the fairway.

McIlroy suddenly looked to be in danger of missing the cut two holes level with another double bogey on the length par-4 17th to drop all the way to +6. A par on the difficult 18th kept things from getting worse, but McIlroy certainly has a long way to go trapped in 145th place on the leaderboard.

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Here are the full highlights from McIlroy’s opening round on Thursday.

McIlroy will tee off tomorrow at 8:24 a.m. Eastern alongside Justin Rose and Jason Day in dire need of a much better round. The projected cut will likely be much closer to even, so McIlroy could be headed home from Erin Hills earlier than he hoped.