Relaxed McIlroy unfazed by Open pressure

Golf's latest darling, Rory McIlroy, begins his quest for The Open title tomorrow despite not having struck a ball in anger since his record-breaking triumph in the US Open last month.

But the 22-year-old from Holywood in Northern Ireland is unfazed by the prospect of being the biggest draw at the tournament, thanks in part to Tiger Woods's withdrawal, and his lack of preparation. He arrived at the Royal St George's course in Sandwich on Tuesday and declared himself fit and ready to go.

Other recent major winners from the Emerald Isle, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, faded badly after winning their first title. McDowell, another Ulsterman, followed up his win at the 2010 US Open by coming 23rd in The Open and then missing the cut at the PGA Championship.

McIlroy, though, has no concerns about what might happen in Kent and the pressure of being the favourite. "I'm the sort of person that likes to have people watching," he said. "It's not going to be the first time I've played in front of big crowds. Last time I played a competitive round of golf, I had a pretty big crowd following me."

Indeed, he said the weight of expectation had now been lifted from his shoulders. While the likes of Lee Westwood, 38, and Sergio Garcia, 31, have never won a major and are constantly being asked why, McIlroy has already done it. "Now I can talk about winning my second," he said. "It's nice to get that first one out of the way and focus on getting more."

Since winning at Congressional, McIlroy has missed the Scottish and French Opens, but has kept himself busy. He went to Wimbledon twice and watched David Haye's title fight against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany.

He was unconcerned about his lack of golf in recent weeks and harked back to the first major of the season, the Masters, where he played three fantastic rounds before blowing a four shot lead on the final day. "I went into the Masters after three weeks off and shot three pretty good scores there, so it's not a problem to me not playing competitive golf after having a break," he explained.

He believes the weather will be a bigger factor in his attempts to become the first man to win back-to-back majors since Padraig Harrington in 2008. He declared: "If the wind keeps up I'll take two seventies in the first two rounds here. But you can't really put a number on it. If the wind keeps up like this, St George's is one of the toughest Open tests that we have. Solid golf is good enough for me, as long as it's better than everyone else's solid golf." ·