Too many stupid mistakes cost me - McIlroy

Rory McIlroy admitted "too many stupid mistakes" prevented him from making a strong start to the Open Championship as a rollercoaster opening round of 72 left him seven shots behind surprise leader Jackson Suber.

Hoping to add a second Claret Jug to the second Masters title he claimed in April, McIlroy endured a frustrating day on Royal Birkdale's greens during a round that featured four birdies and six bogeys.

The six-time major winner missed three four-foot putts in the space of four holes from the seventh before mixing three birdies with two bogey sixes over his final six holes.

"The two bogeys on the par-fives weren't great and I struggled the first two holes to get the speed of the greens," said the 2014 Open champion.

"I felt like they were very inconsistent, just because some parts of the greens are still alive and growing and other parts are really dead."

McIlroy, who finished joint fourth at the 2017 Open at Birkdale, added: "[I] sort of felt like I got it going a little bit, but 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.

"[I'm] not too far away. Hopefully we'll get the better conditions [on Thursday] and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning."

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."