Rory McIlroy was out getting a final feel for Royal St George's first thing on Wednesday morning ahead of The Open.
McIlroy booked himself a 6:30am tee time with mentor, friend and fellow Northern Irishman Darren Clarke and, judging by the pictures below, the pair appeared to be in fine form despite the early alarm call.
Taking it all in his stride: Rory McIlroy and his caddie JP Fitzgerald looked relaxed on Wednesday morning
Centre of attention: Fans were out to catch a glimpse of McIlroy on Wednesday morning
The 22-year-old goes into the season's third major as the bookies' favourite following his stunning win at the US Open last month and will start his bid at 9:09am on Thursday morning.
Ernie Els, the 2002 winner, and young American Rickie Fowler make up the threesome and McIlroy Tweeted earlier this week: 'Great draw for the first 2 rounds at The Open, Ernie and @RickieFowlerPGA..... should be a nice buzz around the first tee on Thursday!'
It gets everywhere: McIlroy wipes sand off practice partner and countryman Darren Clarke
The buzz has been louder and louder around McIlroy since his Congressional victory and was there this morning as he made his way round at Sandwich, stopping to sign autographs to the delight of his fans.
The wind was up and plenty can change before he tees off but he will walk to the first full of confidence and without the burden of expectation
He said: 'The great thing for me is that I now have a major under my belt so that pressure is off. I don't have to answer any more questions on that subject and my focus can be entirely on winning more.'
High five: McIlroy and Clarke find a bit of form and something to celebrate on the 12th hole
Choppy: There was plenty of wind coming in off the sea as McIlroy fine-tuned his game
No comments:
Post a Comment