World No. 2 and local hero Rory McIlroy pulled off a Tiger Woods move as he began his preparations for the 153rd Open Championship, being played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland this week.

McIlroy arrived in Portrush past midnight from the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in Scotland, where he finished tied second behind American Chris Gotterup on Sunday.

The reigning Masters champion barely slept for four hours and was at Royal Portrush Golf Club at the crack of dawn. He was the first player to tee off at 7 am in Monday’s practice round – a routine Woods would regularly follow during his most dominant days.

“I got about four hours of sleep (last night), so I’m looking forward to taking a nap after this (press conference),” said McIlroy, who shot a course-record 61 as a 16-year-old playing the North of Ireland Championship here.

“The last couple of majors, at the PGA and the US Open, the practice rounds took so long. I feel like there were 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can’t get good preparation done.”

“I didn’t come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around. That was the reason I started early today.”

It’s a signature Woods move. Most of his practice rounds were first off the tee, and he’d try to finish before a majority of the crowd could come in. Most professional golfers try to play at least one practice round in the morning and one in the afternoon, hoping the conditions will mirror those when they are playing their Thursday and Friday rounds.

However, McIlroy, who became only the sixth men’s professional golfer to win a career grand slam earlier this year, insists that he is not trying to isolate himself from the fans. It was something he tried to do last time when the Open was in Portrush in 2019 to escape the intense attention on him and still missed the cut with rounds of 79 and 65.

“I played a couple of Irish Opens in Northern Ireland and won here. But then you get to an Open, it’s a major championship, everything that comes along with it, and I just think that walking to the first tee and hearing that ovation, I was a little taken aback,” said McIlroy, who grew up about 100 kilometers from Portrush in the town of Holywood.

“I thought, ‘Geez, these people really want me to win’. I think that brought its own sort of pressure. More internally from myself, wanting not to let people down. I guess it’s just something I didn’t mentally prepare for that day or that week. But I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle.

“I think in 2019, I probably tried to isolate, and I think it’s better for everyone if I embrace it. It’s better for me. It’s nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times. But it’s also nice for the person who is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction, and I am not trying to hide away from it.”

The 153rd Open Championship begins Thursday.