Rory McIlroy left Northern Ireland many years ago, when his otherworldly talent and promise pushed him to a full-time career in pro golf. First, he lived in Dubai, playing plenty on the European Tour. Next came Florida, the landing spot for so many of the game’s best.

McIlroy is still a Florida resident these days, now in his 17th year as a professional. He’s building a house outside London, for those days when he’s back in the United Kingdom. But this week, mentally and physically, he’s a long way from those houses. He’s back home, in Holywood, Northern Ireland — where it all began, driving an hour to the Irish Open each day.

“Usually when you’re at a tournament site … you can hear people announced on the 1st tee, and maybe the first thing you do is checking your phone and seeing how the boys started off and checking the leaderboard,” McIlroy said Friday.

“Staying an hour away, I’ve felt detached from the tournament this week, which has been quite a nice thing and haven’t been so wrapped up in it, which is quite nice. Probably the reason why I started well, I would say.”

McIlroy did start well at Royal County Down, widely regarded as one of the best golf courses in the world, and has continued to play well in his native homeland. He was a few shots back of the lead when he gave that quote, and now 24 hours later he’s behind no one. He shot a two-under 69 Saturday to reach six under and be the lone man atop the leaderboard. Naturally, that kicks off a long Saturday night of ominous thinking, for him and everyone else:

What if he actually gets it done in Northern Ireland?

Pro golf has a tendency to ask these forward-looking questions, and on a daily basis. In part because top players often give press conferences after each round. Every 18 holes requires a new way of thinking about the same goal he had at the beginning of the week.

“It would be great,” McIlroy said Saturday evening. “I talked about it at the start of the week. You know, after the sort of year that I’ve had and the close misses, it wouldn’t make up for all of it, but it would go a long way in putting a nice shine on 2024.

“I can’t get that far ahead of myself. I need to go out and play another very solid round tomorrow to try to get the job done. But I’m pleased with the first three days.”

McIlroy will say he can’t get ahead of himself. But he knows what it’s like for his best golf to have an added layer of significance when it happens in a special location. It was back in Northern Ireland in 2019, at the Open at Royal Portrush, where McIlroy shot 65 in the second round in hot pursuit of the cut line. When he finished on the outside of it, he was brought to tears by the support he received that day. Or even the 2022 Open at St. Andrews in Scotland, when McIlroy was unquestionably the crowd favorite at the Old Course. They sang his name out in the streets after 54 holes, but after 72, he had come up two shots short of a playoff. Once again, it ended in tears.