The Open Round 1 Leaderboard: Rory McIlroy remains in the hunt despite shocking day off the tee

Hatton -3 (10)

Tyrrell Hatton was widely tipped to contend for the Claret Jug this week given his performance at last month's US Open. 

The Englishman is slowly edging closer to landing his first major championship. 

And he's delivering so far. 

An outside chance for birdie at the 10th doesn't drop, but he'll be pleased with how he's played to this point. 

Won't he?! 

McIlroy -2, Fleetwood +1, Thomas -2 (8)

Wow. Justin Thomas moves to 2-under with a superb chip-in at the 8th. 

Tommy Fleetwood has a long birdie putt, but will settle for a par. 

McIlroy, meanwhile, is eyeing up this birdie putt...

He misses!

McIlroy -2, Fleetwood +1, Thomas -1 (8*)

McIlroy finds the fairway at the 8th and sends a towering iron shot towards the green. 

A huge roar erupts as his golf ball settles very close. Looks about 10 feet...

Scottie Scheffler attracted significant attention at the beginning of the week when he delivered a five-minute soliloquy on his struggles to find motivation. 

Scheffler, who carded a 3-under 68 today, said he may come to regret being so honest.

"I think I try to be as honest as I can with you all, with the stuff that I'm willing to say," Scheffler said. 

"At times, I feel like maybe I should be a little less honest. Maybe I shouldn't have said the stuff I said because now I'm going to get asked about it more.

"But really it's just a matter of perspective, and I've had some players come up to me and say that they feel and think the same things.

"If anybody has disagreed with me, they haven't said it to my face yet, so I don't know what the reaction would be. But overall I'm just glad to be out playing golf and competing again."

H. English -3 (7*)

Harris English is playing without his usual caddie this week, who was denied entry to the UK because of a previous drug conviction. 

The world number 19 said every effort was made to try and convince the relevant authorities Eric Larson didn't post a threat, but his team were unsuccessful. 

Still, English has begun this year's Open in fine fashion. 

Long-range eagle attempt coming up...

McIlroy -2, Fleetwood +1, Thomas -1 (6)

Rory McIlroy makes no mistake with his short birdie putt. 

Tommy Fleetwood gets one back, too. The Englishman had a long-range eagle putt and was somewhat unfortunate it didn't drop.

Looks like the weather is about to turn once again... 

Those clouds are dark!

MacIntyre -3, DeChambeau +2, Rose -1 (8)

Bryson DeChambeau rattles his birdie putt about four feet past the cup. 

Justin Rose is on a similar line but also misjudges his effort and settles for a par to remain in the red. 

Bob MacIntyre, though, has got the flat stick rolling.

Another one drops for the Scot!

McIlroy -1, Fleetwood +2, Thomas E (6)

Rory McIlroy is forced to lay up after dragging his tee shot into the rough. 

He's unbelievably fortunate that his second doesn't find the thick stuff again. 

Can he get one close? Yes. In fact,  he almost holes out for an eagle!

Should be an easy birdie. 

McIlroy is on the charge!

MacIntyre -2, DeChambeau +2, Rose -1 (7)

Robert MacIntyre continues to impress. 

A tap-in birdie at the 7th moves him to 2-under. 

Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau settle for pars. 

McIlroy -1, Fleetwood +2, Thomas E (6)

It's been an interesting start for Rory McIlroy. 

The Northern Irishman looked a bit nervous on the first tee, but is cracking jokes with his playing partners on the 7th tee. 

He goes after his drive... and that is loose!

Hatton -3 (7)

The wind has reportedly died down at Portrush, however plenty of players are still battling to capitalise on the more favourable conditions. 

Someone not struggling, however, is Tyrrell Hatton, who has quietly just moved within one of the lead after a near miss for eagle on the 7th.

Could we see some players go even lower as the afternoon progresses into the evening?

DeChambeau +2 (6)

It's been a tough opening stretch for Bryson DeChambeau, who is struggling to overpower Portrush with his trademark distance. 

Through six holes he's yet to find the fairway on any of his four tee shots so far, and sure enough, he misses into the long stuff once again on the seventh.

Kaewkanjana -3 (16)

We have yet another player just one shot off the lead—this time Thai competitor Sadom Kaewkanjana, who drains a monster putt from well off the 16th green to move to three-under par.

Did you know he's also an ordained monk, by the way? The very definition of zen golf.

Glover -3 (2)

We're just two holes in to the round of American Lucas Glover, and so far he's making the conditions at Royal Portrush look fairly pedestrian.

After birdieing the tough first hole, he capitalises on the easier-scoring second with an excellent eagle, jumping immediately up into what's becoming a increasingly crowded group one shot off the lead.

McIlroy E (4)

Rory McIlroy's on-off relationship with his TaylorMade driver has been one of the most-watched equipment stories of the year so far, and could flare up again if he carries on his performance off the tee so far.

He pulls his drive left for the third time in four holes, leaving himself an approach from the fescue that refuses check on a green that's providing precious little stopping power for anyone today.

A fantastic lag putt, however, saves par for the world number two.

Bezuidenhout -3 (7)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is off to a flyer so far this afternoon, culminating in an eagle putt on the 7th that he leaves centimetres short of the hole.

Even so, he's just one shot off the lead with 12 holes left to play, with a serious chance to challenge the lead if he keeps up this white-hot start.

It's been a day of varying fortunes for another featured group who close out their round on the 18th.

Scheffler ends the day firmly on the ascendency, making a comfortable par to end the day -3. Lowry recovers from some mid-round jitters with a good birdie on 16, finishing the day one-under.

Collin Morikawa, meanwhile, will be wanting to forget that round instantly. He misses a long par putt at 18 to enter the clubhouse four over par, way down the leaderboard in a tie for 101st.

Rahm -1 (70)

A strong,  if not spectacular, start for Jon Rahm, who despite an up-and-down round was able to draw upon his outstanding short putting to salvage a one-under 70.

McIlroy E, Fleetwood E, Thomas E (2)

It all threatened to get a little bit out of hand for Rory for a second there, as he pulls his drive on the second well left into the fescue.

After taking his medicine, he hits a smart pitch to leave a 12-footer for birdie, which he sinks. That'll calm the nerves.

Thomas, meanwhile, also makes birdie, while Fleetwood's birdie putt lips out agonisingly at the last millisecond.

Back to all square.

Remember what we were just saying about Scottie Scheffler? Well, he's now one off the lead, birdieing his second hole in succession to move three-under with one hole to play. He then hits a peach of a low cut off the tee at 18, setting himself up for a strong finish.

Hovland -2 (2)

What a start Viktor Hovland has managed to conjure up.

Thoroughly undaunted by the occasion, the Norwegian jumps straight into a tie for sixth with a fantastic eagle on the second.

We all knew the World Number 1 would come good eventually, and like clockwork all of a sudden Scottie Scheffler is tied amongst the top 5 places. After a fairly lowkey round so far, he drains a short birdie putt at 16 to move to two-under par and within two shots of the lead.

McIlroy +1, Fleetwood E, Thomas +1 (1)

A frustrating start for McIlroy, who does well out of deep grass to find the second tier of the green and leave himself a lengthy putt for birdie. 

Fleetwood sends his second slightly over the green onto the back fringe, where he's joined by Thomas who's far closer. The Englishman proceeds to close out his first hole of the tournament in straightforward fashion with a par.

McIlroy produces a beautiful looping lag putt to leave himself a close par putt, which breaks left at the last moment and lips out. 

Thomas, meanwhile, seriously misjudges his putt from the back fringe to set himself up with a challenging par save, which he misses left. 

McIlroy E, Fleetwood E, Thomas E

Here we go then. This is the big one.

There's a palpable buzz on the tee as Rory McIlroy finishes his final few practice putts and emerges on to the first tee alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas (dressed in his traditional Open cardigan).

The Masters Champion drives left into the second cut to start his day. Thomas follows with a fairway finder that hits the right hand side of the short stuff, while Fleetwood splits the fairway with a tight draw from his long iron.