McIlroy (65) leads Open by three shots

BETHESDA, Md. -- Rory McIlroy said he planned to spend a quiet night Thursday night. He figured he would watch a movie or do anything else to keep his mind off what he had done during the day. His philosophy is, don't waste time looking backward.

It might be an unusual approach for someone who just made the U.S. Open look effortless, hitting all but one green in regulation, shooting 6-under- par 65 and becoming the first to take a three-shot lead in the first round since 1976. The point is, the only reason he was able to do all of that was that he wasn't looking back.

Forget about that 80 he shot after the 63 in the first round of the British Open last July. Never mind that he had a share of the lead in the PGA Championship last August. And definitely don't dwell on the back nine at Augusta in April, when he completely melted down and fell from first to 15th.

"You're going into the U.S. Open," said the 22-year-old who comes from Northern Ireland and comes back from despair. "You can't be thinking about what's happened before. You've got to be thinking about this week and how best you can prepare, and how you can get yourself around the golf course."

He did not flinch in the face of the inevitable questions about his collapse at Augusta. McIlroy showed in his bogey-free round that he is unafraid of putting himself in disappointment's way again. So what if he now has the Rory Slam, at least a share of the lead in each of the past four majors?

The way he saw it, Thursday was a good round, not some Augusta rehab. "There's definitely no relief in it," he said. "You know, it's always nice to shoot a good first round at any tournament, let alone a major. I know I'm playing well. I know I'm comfortable on this golf course."

"Congressional Country Club" and "comfort" generally do not fit in the same paragraph. Even though 21 golfers were under par Thursday, the players were cringing about what might come. As well as much of the field played, no one played like McIlroy. Not since Mike Reid 35 years ago has someone held a three-stroke lead after one round of the Open. Surely, nobody in McIlroy's high-powered group was his equal: Phil Mickelson shot 74, Dustin Johnson shot 75.

"The game is easy when you hit it straight and make every putt," Mickelson said, referring to McIlroy. "He played terrific. It was fun to watch, although I didn't see much of it."

Mickelson was usually busy looking for his ball in the rough, so he might have missed McIlroy hitting a wedge within 4 feet on No. 4 or a 3-iron to the fringe that set up a two-putt birdie on No. 6.

If McIlroy were the type to obsess about golfers behind him on the leader board, he would see quite an array. Y.E. Yang, the 2009 PGA champion, and Charl Schwartzel. the reigning Masters champion, are tied for second at 3 under, and Louis Oosthuizen, the reigning British Open champion, is among those tied for fourth at 2 under.

"It's nice to know that you've got one in the bucket," Schwartzel said of major titles. "No reason to stop there."

About the only pieces of his past that McIlroy carries with him are encouraging talks with Jack Nicklaus. "He said to me, 'I'm expecting big things from you.' It's a nice pressure to have, knowing that the greatest player ever thinks that you're going to do pretty good."

McIlroy hopes he someday will look back on this week as something pretty special.

Notes & quotes: A 29-year-old spectator was hospitalized after collapsing alongside the 11th hole during the morning portion of play. He received CPR from a state trooper and police officer, The Associated Press reported. The man's name and condition were not released . . . Robert Rock of England, winner of the BMW Italian Open last week, shot 1-under-par 70 despite having arrived in the United States at 3:30 a.m. Thursday after enduring visa problems. He denied reports he paid $24,000 to expedite the process. "It was nowhere near that much," he said.