ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH

First round ends in draw as Rory fights Portrush

- JEREMY CROSS

RORY MCILROY has had a long wait to take his revenge on Royal Portrush.

Six years to be precise, so what did another six hours matter? That's almost the time it took for McIlroy to grapple with this famous Dunluce Links in a bid to come out on top.

And when the scrap finally came to an end, it felt like honours even between one of the greatest golfers of his generation and one of the greatest courses.

For a while McIlroy had threatened to give this place a bloody nose. Not like he did two decades ago this very week, when as a 16-year-old he breezed around Portrush in just 61 strokes to set a new course record.

But when he walked off the 10th green yesterday, having notched his fourth birdie of the round, he found himself three under par and just one shot off the lead.