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The rocket from caddie that sparked Rory revival

SOUTHPORT: "You're Rory McIlroy," caddie JP Fitzgerald told his player. "What are you doing?"

It was a good question. McIlroy, a former world No. 1 and a four-time major champion, had just opened his ninth British Open on Thursday with a sloppy bogey on Royal Birkdale's par-4 first hole. As he stood on the second tee box, he looked thoroughly out of sorts.

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McIlroy, 28, had missed the cut in three of his previous four tournaments, including the US Open, and his self-belief was dissipating fast. The pep talk from Fitzgerald helped, though McIlroy's round got a whole lot worse before it got better.

After a par at No. 2, McIlroy made four consecutive bogeys.

Through six holes, he was 10 strokes off the lead, and that was with the benefit of the day's best weather. By the time McIlroy teed off alongside Charl Schwartzel and top-ranked Dustin Johnson, the cold, rain and wind that had prompted the early starters to bundle up in three layers had given way to scattered sunshine.

"I was thinking, 'Jeez, here we go again,' but I just needed to stay patient and stay with it," McIlroy said. "I didn't get angry out there at all. I didn't let my head drop too much. So I kept a good, positive attitude."

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On the eighth hole, McIlroy saved par with a clutch putt, and it was as if the air molecules around him rearranged themselves to form a wind at his back.

"After that, it looked like he got his bounce back in his step," Schwartzel said.

McIlroy chased his opening 39 with a bogey-free back-nine 32 for a 1-over 71. He is six shots behind the leaders, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar. Schwartzel, who posted a 66, is one shot off the lead with Paul Casey.

As McIlroy walked off the 18th green after making his fourth birdie in eight holes, he was greeted with shouts from fans of "Well done, Rory" and "Great round, Rory."

It was a far cry from the front nine, when fans stopped a BBC on-course radio reporter who was walking with McIlroy's group to ask if McIlroy should withdraw after the first round because he had essentially played himself out of the tournament.

"I could be standing here and hit 18 greens and shot one over and missed every putt and feel terrible," McIlroy said. "But because of the way I started, I actually feel really positive."

McIlroy reached back into his not-too-distant past for more inspiration. "I was four-over through three holes last year in Boston and won that tournament," he said, referring to the second tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs, where he also opened with a 71.

McIlroy, Schwartzel and Johnson had to wait to hit each shot on the final holes because of congestion ahead of them. But McIlroy did not seem to mind. After his par at the eighth, he settled down and started playing like, well, Rory McIlroy.

"I started to hit some real quality shots coming in," he said, adding: "And then I started to hit a lot of greens and give myself a lot of chances. It was a big momentum shift, if you can say you have momentum being 5-over after seven."

The New York Times