CROMWELL, Conn. – Rory McIlroy hasn’t played up to his standards lately, but he found something over the weekend at the U.S. Open that might portend better days ahead.

McIlroy, who closed the U.S. Open in 3-under 67 for a T19 finish, opened this week’s Travelers Championship in 6-under 64, just two off the first-round lead shared by Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat at TPC River Highlands.

After achieving the career Grand Slam in emotional fashion at the Masters Tournament, McIlroy hasn’t been quite the same on the course – a contrast to the expected victory lap that he’d take (and would deserve) throughout the rest of the 2025 season.

He has demonstrated on-course frustration and been terse at times in comments with the media. But McIlroy was more jovial in his pre-tournament press conference at the Travelers, admitting to enjoying some wine on Sunday evening to decompress at the U.S. Open, and a more generous TPC River Highlands setup figured to improve his mind frame more so.

So far, so good. McIlroy carded a bogey-free round Thursday in Connecticut, highlighted by a 205-yard laser to 4 feet for birdie at the par-3 eighth and a 29-foot birdie at the water-logged par-4 17th.

“It was good,” McIlroy said afterward. “I said yesterday, this is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of 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 (Bradley) and I did today. Yeah, overall it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you're in a two-ball like that and we can sort of feed off one another a little bit, too, that's nice, as well.”

McIlroy alluded to his opening-round pairing alongside Bradley, the upcoming U.S. Team Ryder Cup captain who matched the Northern Irishman’s 6-under 64 to start the Travelers. It was a festive vibe outside the ropes, with Bradley greeted by thunderous “U-S-A!” chants throughout the morning and early afternoon – and ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter making his PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ debut as on-course reporter for the duo, alongside Robert Damron.

McIlroy hasn’t seriously contended in an event since his euphoric Masters title; his best finish in five starts is a T7 at the Truist Championship. He finished T47 at the PGA Championship, missed the cut by 12 strokes at the RBC Canadian Open, and had to scratch and claw to make the cut at the U.S. Open before salvaging a respectable result with a strong Sunday at Oakmont.

It hasn’t been good. But in his third straight week of competition, he’s showing positive signs in his build toward The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in his home country – and this fall’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, just 75 miles from TPC River Highlands as the crow flies.

“I just want to see some good golf and see some better shots,” McIlroy added. “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 in thinking about the result right now. I'm just trying to play as good as I can and make good swings, and if I do that enough, more than likely I'll find myself in a position to have a chance to win.”