Rory McIlroy took advantage of benign early conditions at Royal Liverpool to secure a one-shot lead at the 143rd Open Championship after a blemish-free opening round of 66.
The two-time major champion was among the morning wave of players, following the start of play at 6:25AM local time. A warm, bright and calm morning would result in the old Hoylake links being vulnerable to high quality golf, which was exactly what the 25-year-old Northern Irishman produced before the massive crowds that had arrived early.
Playing alongside fellow gifted 20-somethings, Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, the world number eight was powerful and generally accurate off the tee, which established the foundations for what would prove to be a low round.
Making birdie on the second, the former US Open and PGA Champion would continue that strong start with further birdies on the fifth and sixth to complete an opening nine of 32. Few players are as consistently strong out of the traps as McIlroy, and he would not relent on the back-nine, with three further birdies seeing him post a six-under round of 66 that would remain at the summit for the remainder of a 14 hour day of golf.
It harkened back memories of McIlroy’s scintillating opening round of 63 at St. Andrews four years ago, and to his first round of 64 at Royal Aberdeen seven days ago. However, the mercurial Ulsterman will be desiring to avoid the Friday disasters that undermined those opening efforts.
These ‘freaky Friday’s have become a recurring, though not universal trend in the game of the former world number one. But it is something that he is conscious of, not least as he has been consistently reminded of it for weeks.
As the first round leader seeks the third leg of the career grand slam, there are a whole host of other contenders with major credentials who will be more than content with their position on Thursday night.
Matteo Manassero, arguably the most underrated young talent in the game, shot a stunning opening round of 67 to lead the Italian challenge, although the Molinari brothers; Edoardo and Francesco also established strong starts with 68s.
But it will be the 21-year-old, Manassero, who garners the most attention. Winner of the Amateur Championship in 2009, he would secure the silver medal as leading amateur at the Open that year. His tie for 13th at the age of 16 firmly established the credentials of a player, who has already won four times on the European Tour, including the BMW PGA Championship 14 months ago.
However, since that triumph at Wentworth, Manassero had shown patchy form. But he looked to have rediscovered his best at Royal Aberdeen, with a final round of 65 securing a tie for fourth finish in the Scottish Open.
Veteran Jim Furyk and perennial Open contender Sergio Garcia were among the other players to shoot an opening round of 68, but it was a certain 14-time major champion who would share the billing with McIlroy after an impressive display.
Many had written off Tiger Woods coming into the week, and understandably so. Four months after microdiscectomy surgery on his back, the 38-year-old’s only competitive appearance since came three weeks ago at Congressional. He would miss the cut.
And it looked as though another struggle would be on the cards, as the three-time Open Champion, who won at Hoylake eight years ago, opened with two bogeys. However, he would grow into the round, and eventually flourish with five birdies on the back-nine to post a 69 – his fourth successive opening round in the 60s at golf’s oldest championship.
The former would number one showed style at times, and undoubtedly grew with confidence as the round progressed. Whether he can continue this form into the remainder of the week is another thing entirely, but you would be unwise to back against him following this display.
The vast majority of the scores had been shared among the early starters, but it was the current world number one who would impressive most in the afternoon. Adam Scott, who squandered a four shot lead with four holes remaining at Lytham in 2012, defied the more challenging conditions, later in the day, which saw defending champion Phil Mickelson shoot 74, to open with a confident 68.
The Australian, last year’s Masters Champion, has been at Hoylake for a week, playing at least one practice round each day since. No player in the field has had such specific preparation, and he will be more comfortable than most when it comes to handling the expected tricky conditions to come in the next two days.
That will be the most compelling element to Friday, with increased winds and rain expected to turn Hoylake into a more brutish test than the 48-under par rounds recorded on Thursday would have you believe.
The players were able to take advantage of a largely defenceless course, but this delightful old layout will bite back in the second round of what has the potential to be a special Championship.