Rory McIlroy wary of 'Freaky Friday'

Rory McIlroy seemed to have grown wings as he flew away to flawless six-under 66 that gave a him outright lead at the end of the first day of the 143rd Open Championships at Royal Liverpool on Thursday.

However, the 25-year-old Irish player, a two-time Major champion already, who has time and again ballooned to big numbers on Friday (second round) will again be chased by the same bugbear, which is now called 'Freaky Fridays' by the golfing fraternity.

One shot behind McIlroy at 67 was Italian Matteo Manassero, who is four years younger than him. A five-man bunch hung one further down at four-under 68 and that included the Molinari brothers, Francesco and Edoardo, young American Brooks Koepka and veterans Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia. Also making a strong and solid start was Tiger Woods, who shot 69.

This afternoon McIlroy had three birdies in the first six holes and then added three more birdies on the back nine to move into a one-shot lead over Italian Matteo Manassero, who is four years younger than the Irishman.

Back in the 2010 Open at St. Andrews McIlroy followed his first round 63 with a second round 80 but did make the cut and finally ended third with a fine show on weekend.

This year McIlroy's 'Freaky Fridays' have been prominent. Last week at Scottish Open, McIlroy opened with a 64 and then had a 78 on second before going on to finish 14th. It is something McIlroy himself is conscious of.

Asked about it, he said, "It was way before that. I had a bad Friday afternoon at Augusta, (he shot 77 on second) and then just made the cut. And then I started off horrifically at (Wells Fargo Championships) Quail Hollow (76) on Friday afternoon. And then did the same thing at (Players Championships) Sawgrass (74). That's like three tournaments in a row.

"That's when I was conscious of it. I was 3-over through 9 on Friday at (BMW PGA of Europe) Wentworth, and then I was able to get it back in form. And then (at the) Memorial (63 followed by 78) obviously was the biggest one. There's nothing really to it. It's just, as I said at the start about maybe having higher expectations going out on a Friday because you shot a low round, and just trying to put those expectations aside and just try and take it one hole at a time."

Manassero was the low amateur at 16 in 2009, but since then has not made the cut at the Open in two appearances in 2011 and 2013, but on Thursday, he had two birdies in first three holes but dropped a bogey on ninth. He then packed five birdies against one bogey on back nine for 67.

McIlroy was in an absolutely brilliant form. If the Royal Liverpool Golf Club was bathed in sunshine, McIlroy's play was as incandescent. His approach play was dazzling and his approach shot in the second hole almost dropped, falling two inches short.

McIlroy, was for the present happy with the he had begun. He said, "Anytime you shoot 66 at the Open Championship, you're going to be pleased. We had perfect scoring conditions out there this morning.

There wasn't much wind early on. The wind started to pick up a little bit on the back nine. But, yeah, there was plenty of opportunities to make birdies. I was able to take a few of them. Another great start and, yeah, looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

Woods, whose return to golf after almost four months was marked by a missed cut in his own event, Quicken Loans National, three weeks ago. He had a bogey-bogey start for only the third time in his career, but quickly found his rhythm with a birdie on fifth and then added five in a matter of six holes between 11th and 16th with a bogey in between on 14th, which saw him use a mouth a swear word. Woods won the last of his three Claret Jugs here at Hoylake back in 2006. His birdie attempt from 40 feet grazed past the cup and despite attempts to reach the 18th in two, reminiscent of 2006, when he eagled the 18th on first day, he managed only a par.

Woods was pleased with his progress and form. "Well, I knew I could do it. That's why I was I'm telling you guys it was so important for me to play at Congressional. The fact that I was able to recover every day, and the fact that I was stronger, more explosive the more days I played. I'm only going to get better from that point. And I'm getting stronger, I'm getting faster, I'm getting more explosive. The ball is starting to travel again. And those are all positive things."

He also made it clear that the first two bogeys had not begun to frustrate him. "Yes, that's fine. Because I still had four par 5s to play. I still had a couple of the short holes. I'm not going to be the only guy in a 72-hole event to make two bogeys. I just got mine out of the way early. With the forecast the next couple of days supposed to be iffy, guys aren't going to go really low here. We're going to be bunched. You look at the scores, there's a ton of players between 2- and 4-under par."

Woods upset at mobiles, cameras
Hoylake: Tiger Woods, who has often been irritated with photographers and mobile users on the course was once again unhappy with the way things were on the opening day Hoylake.

He said, "People were taking pictures. And like we had all day today. And there was a lot of cameras out there. We were backing off a lot of shots and a lot of people moving around. It was tough. … Unfortunately people just don't put their phones on silent or some of the professionals guys were getting on the trigger a little early."

The Royal and Ancient has since 2012 allowed mobiles on the course but in silent mode and calls can be taken only in designated zones but spectators are allowed to access emails, access Facebook and send tweets. With Wi-Fi all around the course, it has been hugely popular, but some of the players have clearly been disturbed.