Hoylake, July 17: Rory McIlroy took advantage of a bright and sunny day at the Royal Liverpool to score a brilliant 66 to take a one stroke lead over Matteo Manassero. Tiger Woods, back from a lengthy absence due to back surgery, produced a satisfying 69 to make a promising start to The Open Championships. The Molinari brothers – Edoardo and Francesco – made 68, to tie for fourth.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson got off to a poor start, set to score a 73, as he was lying one over through 17 at the time of publishing this report. The reigning Masters champion, Bubba Watson was staring at a 75. US Open champion Martin Kaymer could end up with a 73 as he too was one over through 17 holes.
McIlroy produced the best round of the day, making three birdies on either side of his trip for a classy six under score of 66. In recent times though, the Irishman has suffered from an inexplicable second round let down, ruining any chances of building on the good starts he has been making. He will be hoping to avoid a meltdown on Friday, akin to what happened at Aberdeen last week.
The Italian Manassero is right behind McIlroy, making seven birdies and two bogeys for a five-under 67 to start to his tournament. Francesco Molinari finished with a soaring eagle at the 18th to finish among a group of five men that included his brother Edoardo, Brooks Koepka, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott.
Woods, who won the Open when it was last played at Hoylake made six birdies – five of them on the back nine – and three bogeys to settle for a 69 that left him just three off the pace after a memorable day of golf at the Royal Liverpool.
“Any time you shoot 66 at the Open Championship, you’re going to be pleased,” said McIlroy. “We had perfect scoring conditions out there this morning. There wasn’t much wind early on and there were plenty of opportunities to make birdies and I was able to take a few of them.”
Report by Anand Datla
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