Rory McIlroy rues 'stupid mistakes' but hopeful of recovery at The Open

Rory McIlroy is hopeful he can play his way back into contention at The 154^th Open after he was left ruing “stupid mistakes” in his first round at Royal Birkdale.

The Northern Irishman was uncharacteristically out of sorts as he ran up six bogeys - including on both the par fives - in what were the toughest conditions of the day.

While a closing birdie provided reason for hope, he was seven shots behind surprise first-round leader Jackson Suber.

“There were just too many stupid mistakes – but every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it,” he said.

“I’m not too far away. If you look at the discrepancy between the scoring this morning and the scoring this afternoon, it looks like that’s going to be flipped tomorrow with the conditions again.

“Hopefully I can take advantage of the more benign conditions in the morning and shoot one under par and get back in it.”

The career Grand Slam winner carded a closing 64 at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open but he cut a frustrated figure as he faced the toughest conditions of the day.

McIlroy missed three putts from inside four feet – at the seventh, eighth and tenth – either side of driving the green at the ninth to make a birdie.​

Back-to-back bogeys at the start of the back nine halted any momentum before a 25-foot putt dropped in off the left edge at the 13th for just his second birdie of the day.

After he chipped through the green and into a bunker at the par five 17th, he was forced to splash out with one knee on the ground but couldn’t convert the par putt from eight feet.

However, a brilliant approach at the last gave him something to hold onto.

“I drove the ball incredibly well," he reflected.

"I took the golf course on off the tee. Obviously with the positions that I put myself in off the tee, I feel like I obviously should have shot a better score.

“Played the hard holes well. Birdied 13, 15 and 18 on the back.

“The two bogeys on the par fives wasn't great and I struggled the first two holes to get the speed of the greens.”