Rory rallies for 66 after playing 'blind' on opening stretch

After Rory McIlroy won the 2019 RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club by seven shots, the course underwent a major renovation before the tournament returned to the iconic venue this year.

McIlroy was able to check out the changes on holes 1-9 in the Pro-Am on Wednesday, but couldn't visit the back nine ahead of Thursday's opening round. That left the two-time champion venturing into the unknown with his group starting their day on No. 10.

Despite that, McIlroy carded nine straight pars on that stretch before ripping off four birdies on the more familiar front nine to shoot 4-under 66 and sit three off the clubhouse lead.

"I played the back nine blind. Hadn't seen the back nine. Only played the front nine in the Pro-Am. So I was sort of happy enough to get out of there in even par and not make a bogey," McIlroy said after his round, according to ASAP Sports. "But once I got that nine holes out of the way, I knew there were some chances on that front side and played probably much better on that front side. Four birdies there, no bogeys was a good day's work."

While birdies bring the roars from the crowd, avoiding bogeys - something he struggled with earlier this season - is just as important for McIlroy.

Following the Players Championship in March, the 35-year-old ranked a distant 139th on TOUR in bogey avoidance - a far cry from the 11th and 21st ranks he held in that category the previous two campaigns. The four-time major winner was still making birdies in bunches, but the bogey train derailed him time and again, leaving him with a 19th-place finish, his best in five starts on the season.

That's clearly been an area of focus: Thursday marked the sixth time McIlroy went bogey-free in his last 21 rounds since then - a stretch that's improved his TOUR standing in bogey avoidance from 139 to 30th.

"Thankfully, it's something that I'm starting to do again," he said. "The start of the year or at least through like February, March, April, I was making some big numbers and it was - there was a lot of volatility on the scorecard. But to play bogey-free rounds is really nice again."

It appears the Hamilton renovation didn't change McIlroy's eye on the green, and he's now 26-under in five career rounds at the course. He'll look to improve upon that total and narrow the gap to the leaders with an afternoon tee time on Friday.