TROON, Scotland -- Rory McIlroy barely recognized Royal Troon during the first round of The Open. That's because The Open is supposed to leave you curled in the corner of the clubhouse, muttering incoherently about applesauce and toy trains.
Instead, McIlroy was muttering about shooting a 2-under-par 69 and what might have been. Yes, it was his first sub-70 round in a major this season. And yes, it could have been much better, enough to put him atop The Open's iconic yellow scoreboard.
"I knew today was a day where you had to make the most of the conditions, because I don't think we're going to see the course like this for the rest of the week," McIlroy said, channeling his inner Jim Cantore.
McIlroy wasn't the only pre-Open favorite not to take advantage of the docile conditions. World No. 1 Jason Day finished at 2 over. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson shot even par. Bubba Watson was at 4 under but ended up at 1 under.
McIlroy knows that Royal Troon was in a rare, forgiving mood. For starters, a strange, rarely seen heat-producing orb called the sun was perched in the Scottish sky. This part of the world is famous for windburn, not sunburn. But Thursday you could actually use something higher than SPF 1.
There were also no traditional Open gusts to speak of. A butterfly could have made its way from one end of the course to the other without damaging its wings.
Danger? Nothing completely fatal. The par-3 Postage Stamp claimed its usual number of victims. The par-4 11th was mostly its beastly self. And former Open champion John Daly scared more than few young children with a pair of pineapple-decorated pants that looked like they'd been stolen from the Tiki Lounge. But that was about it.
"I was probably thinking on the 10th tee I was trying to get a couple more," said McIlroy, who at one point Thursday shared the lead. "I was trying to get to 6 [under]. It obviously didn't quite work out."
Then again, McIlroy has had a few things on his mind this week. On Tuesday, the four-time major winner decided to take the full plunge into such topics as testing for performance-enhancing drugs and then everyone's favorite, golf in the Olympics -- and his decision to skip the competition in Rio.
His remarks were as direct as a 2-iron to the teeth. In short, he said it wasn't a particularly difficult decision to take the Rio pass; that his primary responsibility is to win championships and not grow the game (that favorite catchphrase of golf bureaucrats); and that if he watches the Olympics, it won't be for the golf, but for "the stuff that matters," such as swimming and track and field.
The blowback was immediate and, it seemed, more negative than positive. One international radio broadcaster here to cover The Open characterized McIlroy's words as "the comments of a young man." Translation: This is what 27-year-olds say when they get defensive.
So you had to wonder how McIlroy and his game would deal with the public and media reaction. As it turns out, just fine -- though it was obvious that McIlroy hadn't completely moved on.
"Look, I think I said all I needed to say on that matter, and hopefully I can go out [Friday] and play similar to the way I did today and get myself right into contention for another Claret Jug," said McIlroy, who won the Open in 2014 but missed last year's tournament at St. Andrews because of a soccer-related ankle injury.
Except that it wasn't all he needed to say. McIlroy didn't exactly want a mulligan on those comments of Tuesday. Instead, he wanted to "elaborate" on a few items, beginning with the part where he said he didn't get into golf to grow the game.
"Obviously I feel like I do my bit to grow the game," he said. "It's not as if I'm uninterested."
And then he listed his participation in several golf-related initiatives.
It wasn't an apology, mostly because he has nothing to apologize for. In fact, McIlroy said he had "no regrets" about the comments.
As for probably not watching golf in the Olympics, McIlroy actually doubled down on those remarks.
"Look, it's my opinion," he said. "I think my opinion's shared by a few people, but some people may think it's wrong, and that's fine. But I've spent seven years trying to please everyone, and I figured out that I can't really do that, so I may as well be true to myself."
If we're putting on our truth hats, then it's probably best to mention that McIlroy and The Open don't always get along. He has that Claret Jug from 2014 and a T-3 from 2010 but no top-20s in his other five appearances.
He doesn't have a victory this year on the PGA Tour, but he did win the Irish Open in May and finished third at the recent French Open.
Every so often he plays tag-team with his putting grip (though he needed only a respectable 28 putts to complete his first round).
And there's this feeling that somehow McIlroy has moved from Paul McCartney to Ringo Starr status when discussing the supposed Fab Four of golf (Day, Spieth, Johnson and McIlroy). Of course, McIlroy has as many career major victories as the other three combined.
Rains and wind arrive here Friday. That means no more Bob Ross-like beauty paintings of sun-smooched Royal Troon. It will be dreary, and the golf will be appropriately painful.
"It's nice to not be too far out of the lead after Day 1," said McIlroy, who predicts 8 to 10 under will win this thing.
It would also be nice for McIlroy if he can quiet the critics. Nothing personal, but he's better than Ringo.