Rory McIlroy sent loud and clear Ryder Cup taster on day one at the Travelers
The superstar partnered with USA skipper Keegan Bradley and heard the support
Rory McIlroy was blissfully unaffected by passionate home Ryder Cup backing as he sizzled back to form on day one at the Travelers Championship.
The Northern Irish superstar had zest back as he blitzed to an opening bogey-free 64 at TPC River Highlands to sit within two shots of leader Austin Eckroat.
McIlroy did so against the backdrop of regular 'USA, USA' chanting as he was partnered for the round by American captain Keegan Bradley at one of his local courses.
The World No.2 didn't miss the noise, but smiled: 'There's definitely a lot more Captain America and USA chants out there, which is cool. It's cool for Keegan to be here, be the US Ryder Cup captain and, obviously, get all that support.'
Bradley was thrilled by the backing and chants and said: 'I get them every week and I appreciate it so much. It's a thrill, something I didn't expect, but it's awesome.'
Having suffered for long spells at the US Open last week, McIlroy took the momentum from his final-round 67 at Oakmont into Connecticut and beamed: 'It was good. This a nice tonic compared to last week. It's a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn't quite as severe.
"You can give yourself plenty of chances for birdies which Keegan and I did, so overall, it was a good start to the tournament and I think, when you're in a two-ball like that, we know we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, that's that's nice as well. I've always liked this course and I think the changes they've made have definitely been an improvement."
McIlroy is now building for The Open at Royal Portrush and continued: "I just want to see some good golf, see some better shots and I think, if you concentrate on that and you're concentrating on your quality of golf and concentrating on just trying to play to the best of your ability, the result will take care of itself. There's no point thinking about the result right now.
"I'm just trying to play as good as I can and make good swings and, if I if I do that enough, more than likely I'll find myself in a position to have a chance to win.'
Much excitement in the States around the two-ball came from the fact that big-name TV broadcaster on NFL Adam Schefter followed the pair around.
McIlroy said: 'I'm not a huge [American] football fan and didn't grow up with it, so it's probably lost on me a little bit, but obviously a lot of people thought it was really cool.'
But Bradley was far more excited and said: 'It was great. Just hearing his voice is so iconic with football. I turn on the TV hoping to hear Patriot news and he's the guy. So that was really fun.
"I was thrilled to meet him and have him out there. I was in getting stretched in the fitness trailer over here and Schefter's talking about me. He's a nice guy and I hope he does more.'
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