Before day one of this tournament, only five of 1,368 US Open rounds at Pinehurst’s notoriously tough Number Two course had been bogey free.
McIlroy and Spain’s Sergio Garcia – who carded a 69 – added their names to that list as only 15 players bettered par in largely benign conditions.
It is only the second time McIlroy has kicked off a US Open without a bogey. The other occasion was on his way to storming to his first major in 2011 at Congressional.
However, despite also winning an Open Championshp and two US PGA titles in quick succession, he has endured a near decade-long drought in golf’s most important tournaments.
The Northern Irishman has been trending in the right direction in recent years at the US Open though, posting a ninth (2019), an eighth (2020), a seventh (2021), a fifth (2022) and a second place in 2023.
By that trajectory there is only one place left for him to finish and, while it’s clearly early in the championship, the noise around him winning a fifth major will only grow louder after this sensible opening round.
Playing smart and controlled golf, McIlroy was rarely in trouble, thrilling the crowd with a magnificent chip-in birdie at the fifth.
A fine birdie putt at 16 broke a run of five straight pars to move into joint second with his Ryder Cup team-mate Aberg, before he holed from 20 feet at the last to reach the summit.
“I am just trying to be as even-keeled as I possibly can,” he said. “I feel like that has served me well in US Opens over the past few years.”