Four birdies in the first 10 holes – starting on Congressional Country Club's tougher nine – carried the 22-year-old pro to another strong first-round run in a major. By the end, a 6-under-par 65 was good for a three-stroke lead over his nearest pursuit.
"I felt very comfortable," McIlroy said. "It doesn't feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and going to get trickier, but I think it's quite fair."
McIlroy opened last year's British Open with a 63, matching the record for a major championship, and led the Masters after a first-round 65. A couple of major champions head the chase pack – current Masters titleholder Charl Schwartzel and former PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, both with 68s.
"It's always easier to be in front than to be chasing," said Yang, who famously became the first man to chase down Tiger Woods in a major when he did it two years ago at Hazeltine.
British Open titleholder Louis Oosthuizen was another shot back, overcoming a bogey/bogey start to head an international six-pack of players who posted 69s. He was joined by Spain's Sergio Garcia, Brazil's Alex Rocha, Australia's Scott Hend, South Korea's K.T. Kim and American Ryan Palmer.
Early-day drizzle gave way to mostly cloudy skies at Congressional, encouraging players to take aim at more birdies. Even so, the average score through the first wave of players was 73.9.
"No one's going crazy," said defending champion Graeme McDowell, five shots back after an opening 70. "The pins were really generous in places and no one's really going deep."
Well, except McIlroy. The Northern Ireland lad hardly sniffed the threat of bogey all day, missing just one green – and saving par from a bunker at No.14.
It was a far cry from his most recent nine in a major – started when a wild drive at Augusta National's No.10 sent him crashing out of the Masters lead with a triple bogey. A bogey and double bogey followed – giving back six shots to par in three holes.
"You just move on; that's all you can do," the Ulsterman said earlier in the week. "It's not the end of the world. You analyze it, you pick things from it what you think you could have done better. And when you get yourself into that position again, you try and put those things that you want to do better into practice."
It promised to be a far better day than any of the top three players in the world rankings. Playing in the same threesome, No.1 Luke Donald, No.2 Lee Westwood and No.3 Martin Kaymer combined to shoot 10-over par.
"It just didn't work out," said Westwood, whose 4-over 75 was the worst of the bunch. "We'll shoot better scores tomorrow, hopefully."
Donald and Kaymer each carded 75s.
"We're just hoping for a better score tomorrow," Kaymer said. "Luke's always a very consistent player - fairways, greens. But he was struggling a little bit, Lee was struggling. We couldn't get anything going."
Westwood said: "It's just not a very good score - and [birdies were] there for the taking. ... I thought the golf course was in great shape. I thought somebody could go out and shoot 66."
Tiger Woods is sitting out this week, remaining home in Orlando to let an ailing left knee and Achilles tendon heal. He has played just nine competitive holes since the Masters, withdrawing midway through his opening round at The Players Championship.
It's also the first major Woods has missed since the 2008 British Open and PGA after he underwent reconstructive surgery on the left knee. He hadn't missed a USGA championship since his 1991 debut at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
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