Rory McIlroy admits he made two big mistakes on day one at the Truist Championship

Rory McIlroy opened his account at the Truist Championship with a round of four-under-par 66.

McIlroy sits five shots adrift of first round leader Keith Mitchell at the Truist Championship.

The Northern Irishman is back playing his own ball for the first time since his win at The Masters four weeks ago.

Before the event began, McIlroy said that he had an attack-minded game-plan for the Truist Championship, and he certainly lived up to that.

The 35-year-old let loose on his driver on almost every par four and par five at the Philadelphia Cricket Club on Thursday.

He is very much the man to beat now.

McIlroy’s win at The Masters motivated his main rivals to improve, but the truth of the matter is that nobody aside from Scottie Scheffler can live with him when he’s on song.

Rory McIlroy on his two mistakes on day one at the Truist Championship

Unfortunately for The Masters champion, he was nowhere near his best on Thursday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Even without his best stuff, it’s no surprise that he managed to get it round in four-under-par.

McIlroy addressed the media after his opening round, and shared the couple of mistakes that he made at Philadelphia Cricket Club.

He said, “I think it worked out fine. I drove the ball pretty well. I missed it in a couple of spots but was sort of able to get away with it. The mistakes I made mostly were from around the greens, the three-putt on 12 and then making 6 at 15.

“Apart from that, I played pretty good. I felt like I was a little rusty out there, just hadn’t played in a week and I hadn’t really done a ton of practice, especially like on and around the greens.

“I certainly can tidy a few things up, but overall a decent day.“

He can certainly tidy those little things up, and it would shock nobody if he came out and shot in the low 60’s on Friday.

McIlroy shares the Grand Slam problem he thinks Jordan Spieth has

The Northern Irishman became only the sixth man in history to complete the Grand Slam last month.

And now Spieth has the chance to become the seventh to join the club next week at The PGA Championship.

However, Spieth has his work cut-out according to McIlroy.

The five-time major champion said, “It’s hard, I think, for Jordan having to do — you have to go back to the same tournament every year for Jordan, but not the same golf course. I think it’s a little bit of a different — it’s a bit of a different proposition for him rather than me having to go back to the same venue every year and trying to, I guess, do that as well.

“As much as you try to get yourself in the right frame of mind to just try to win the golf tournament and then let everything else happen, it’s in there. Consciously or subconsciously, you feel that.“

Whether or not Spieth ever gets his hands on the PGA Championship remains to be seen. However, McIlroy is now safe in the knowledge that he has nothing left to prove in the game.