The Open: Rory McIlroy admits ‘too many stupid mistakes’ cost him in ragged opening round

Each of the past 26 Open champions have been within five shots of the lead after round one.

But McIlroy, who recovered from a seven-shot first-round deficit to win the 2025 Masters, believes he can work his way back into contention when he tees off on Friday at 10:09 BST.

“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,” he added.

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

On the short missed putts that put him on the back foot, McIlroy admitted a couple of failed early attempts on the green meant he struggled to trust his reads.

“I feel like I missed a couple early on that looked like they were going to break one way and they actually went another way, and then when you get the next one, you’re over it and it’s just very hard to trust that the ball is going to do what you think it’s going to do.

“Then you maybe don’t make quite as committed of a stroke. It seems like when it gets like that you just keep leaving yourself four-footers.

“I left one to pretty much tap-in range on nine to make a birdie. Then I missed three four-footers in the space of four holes, and it’s tough to get out of that and stay committed to what you’re trying to do on the greens.”