The Open 2018: Rory McIlroy in championship contention despite battle with the elements

'I feel like I played in the toughest of conditions,' said the 29 year-old

McIlroy found the rough a few times but, as he explained, that wasn't the end of the world (PA)

To help you understand the sort of morning Rory McIlroy had around Carnoustie, his press conference ended with the Northern Irishman having to explain the word ‘slog’ to the American media, who had just asked him for one word to describe the tricky final three holes on the Links course.

It wasn’t a slog without reward though, a two under par 69 establishing him firmly among the leaders.

If Thursday was a day when McIlroy had to battle a round of fiery fairways, Friday was a day of fighting through the rain with an early tee time condemning the 29 year-old to the worst of second-round conditions and forcing him to rethink his strategy.

“Geez, under those conditions, I would have taken that score today going out," McIlroy said as he sat down to discuss a round that, at one point, had him leading the whole competition.

“It wasn't that bad, but it was just damp enough and cold enough that the game plan that I was trying to adapt to be aggressive and hit driver a lot, I just couldn't do it. All the bunkers were in play.

“And then with it being wet, with the ball being wet and the club face, the possibility of that getting wet, you know, the spin rate goes right on on the driver, and it could start to go either way.

“The fairways definitely didn't have as much fire in them. But it was cold as well. So the ball just wasn't going very far. I was surprised there was a couple of holes where I thought I'd hit shots that were going to end up in a fairway bunker or close to it, and they were a good bit short of that.”

McIlroy has been consistently impressive over the first couple of days (AP)

It meant an adjustment, and while the Ulsterman only used the driver six times he knew that when he did, there were areas either side of the fairway that were forgiving, rather than the day-ruining thick age that has destroyed so many rounds in the past.

“There were still some shots today where I missed the 6th fairway by probably 30 yards. I missed the 17th by about 30 yards. So there's still a couple of shots out there that weren't great. But at least I'm missing them in the right spots.

“I know - and this is different from the Carnoustie we usually play - there are bailouts on either side of these fairways. If you know where they are… even if you're not quite in the right position, you know that, okay, if I hit it out to the right here, I'm going to be fine.

“I think the rough is easier with the rain because a lot of the rough here is growing towards the green. So if you hit it in the rough, and with wet rough, the club is just going to slide into the ball, and it's not going to turn over as easy. So any lie I had in the rough today, it was totally fine.

“It was almost better today than it was yesterday because you're not having to guess if it's going to fly or not. At least with the wet rough, you sort of have a little more consistency with how it's going to come out.”

In repeating his two-under 69 of day one to end on -4, McIlroy remained firmly in the mix for winning the 147th Open and that is where he wants to be, prioritising staying in contention and making an assault from there.

England's Tommy Fleetwood ended the day a shot ahead of McIlroy among the leaders (PA)

“I’m in a great position going into the third day. I was probably top ten going into the third day at Birkdale last year, so similar enough, but, yeah, I'm happy.

“I feel like I played in the toughest of the conditions, and definitely our side of the draw, we had to sort of tough it out a little bit. It was a little more difficult. So I'm happy to be in with a shot.

“I’d much rather be sitting here not in damp clothes and a T-shirt, but it is what it is."