Rory McIlroy Just Flipped His Open Championship Around. Tiger Woods History Is Next.

Rory McIlroy looked like he was headed for an early exit after Thursday’s first round at Royal Birkdale. Then he went out and shot 67 on Friday, and suddenly history is in the conversation.

The world No. 2 carded a 3-under 67 in the second round of the 2026 Open Championship, a complete reset after a frustrating 2-over 72 on Day 1. According to Justin Ray of The Athletic, that round brought McIlroy to within three rounds of Tiger Woods for the most rounds of 67 or better in major championship history. Woods has 48. McIlroy now has 45. Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson are tied at 42.

McIlroy’s first round was a mess in a specific way. He missed three birdie putts from inside four feet. That’s the kind of thing that gets in your head, and he wasn’t exactly quiet about the conditions either, calling the greens “inconsistent” after the round.

But Friday was a different story. Four birdies, three of them coming on his last six holes. He just steadied himself and played his way back into the tournament. He’s currently T37 at 1 under par, which is not exactly charging, but it’s miles better than where he was sitting 24 hours earlier.

This is also part of a longer stretch of solid golf for McIlroy. He finished under par at the Scottish Open for the 13th straight time, which is one of those stats that sounds fake but isn’t. And he was under par at the U.S. Open too. Nobody’s saying he’s back to peak 2014 form, but the trend is real.

Speaking of 2014 — that’s the last time he won the Open Championship, at Royal Liverpool. He finished at 17 under, two shots clear of Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia. At 25 years old, he became the first European player to win four major titles before turning 25. The other three were the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championships.

The leaderboard right now belongs to Australia’s Lucas Herbert at 8 under. McIlroy isn’t really in that conversation yet, not with 36 holes left and a seven-shot gap. But the guy has a history of flipping a tournament in a hurry. And if he keeps posting 67s, that Woods record is going to start looking more like a when than an if.

The Open Championship runs through July 19 at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.