Rory McIlroy's hopes of winning a second Claret Jug suffered an early setback as a two-over-par 72 in the first round of The Open left him seven strokes off the lead. The Northern Irishman struggled with his putter throughout the day, missing three putts from inside four feet and ranking 104th in the putting statistics.
Difficult Afternoon Conditions
McIlroy teed off at 3:15 pm in the most challenging conditions of the day. The morning starters enjoyed calm winds, but by the time McIlroy began his round, the breeze had strengthened and shifted to a northerly direction off the sea. The greens, baked by harsh sun all day, became increasingly crusty as the round progressed.
According to reports, McIlroy was literally brought to his knees at the par-five 17th. After hooking his approach into the gallery and then flying the green into a bunker, he contorted his stance to splash out to eight feet—only to miss the putt for a sixth bogey.
Frustrating Start
The world number two found himself two over after seven holes, having failed to get up and down at the par-three fourth and two-putting from inside four feet at the short seventh. He missed a three-footer for birdie at the eighth but finally got a putt to drop after driving the green at the downwind, 415-yard ninth, turning in one over.
Back-to-back bogeys at the start of his back nine halted any momentum, dropping him as low as 155th out of 156 in the putting statistics. At the 13th, a 24-foot putt dropped into the side of the hole, but McIlroy responded with a sardonic tilt of the head, seemingly unimpressed by his second birdie of the day.
Late Rally
McIlroy made a complete mess of the two par-fives, but salvaged something late on with a brilliant approach from 198 yards to five feet at the 18th, finally sinking a short birdie putt to finish on a positive note. However, the damage was done, and the distance to unknown American leader Jackson Suber means his bid for a seventh major—which would make him the most successful European golfer of all time—was dealt an early blow.
History is not on McIlroy's side: each of the last 26 Open champions have been within five shots of the lead after round one.
