Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay tied for U.S. Open lead - ESPN

PINEHURST, N.C. — Rory McIlroy is again knocking at the door.

A day that began with Patrick Cantlay posting a first-round 65 to take the early lead at the U.S. Open ended with an exclamation point: McIlroy walking in a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that punctuated a bogey-free spin around Pinehurst No. 2 and gave him a share of the lead.

«I thought I left it short,» McIlroy said with a smile. «That's why I walked after it.»

Though unintentional, the early walk-in would have been fitting of the round McIlroy had. It wasn't that he overpowered the golf course or that he made every putt he saw. Instead, he played with discipline and was confident in the quality of his game.

«It was a really controlled round of golf,» McIlroy said.

McIlroy hit 15 of 18 greens, and the three that he did not hit he was able to get up-and-down for par with ease. After spraying a drive right on the par-5 fifth hole and misjudging the layup and the approach, the chip-in for birdie set the tone for the round. McIlroy had a stretch of four straight pars on the front nine and five straight pars on the back before making a birdie on the par-5 16th hole and the putt on 18.

«I could have got a little impatient,» said McIlroy, a four-time major winner. «But I felt like my patience was rewarded there with birdies on two of the last three holes. It was really nice to finish like that.»

By now, the spiel on McIlroy is well-known: It has been over 10 years since he won a major. He has had more close calls than any player and has fallen short at the Old Course in St. Andrews and other venues both new and familiar such as Valhalla Golf Club, the site of his last major win in 2014. McIlroy has tried new approaches and different methods to get himself