'Stupid' - Rory McIlroy lashes out after turbulent first round at The Open

Rory McIlroy was left lamenting 'stupid' mistakes after finishing his first round of The Open at two-over 72. The back-to-back Masters champion is seven shots off the surprise leader, Jackson Suber, through 18 holes.

McIlroy, 37, carded an opening round that included six bogeys and four birdies to leave him in a tie for 85th with 21 other players, including Ryder Cup teammate Matt Fitzpatrick, and below the one-over projected cut line. However, seven shots is the same gap he overcame at Augusta last year, and Mark O'Meara previously came from as far back to win at Royal Birkdale in 1998.

Speaking afterward, McIlroy said: "There were 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. "

He explained: "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 on a day like today, you just keep leaving yourself four-footers. I left one to pretty much tap-in range on 9 to make a birdie. Then I missed three four-footers in the space of four holes, and that's tough - it's tough to get out of that and stay committed to what you're trying to do on the greens.'

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"But I'm not going to go back to the house and analyse it too much. I'll focus on the positives, which were I took it on off the tee and drove the ball very, very well, hit some really good shots, played the hard holes well. I made too many sloppy mistakes and just need to cut those out."

McIlroy is still optimistic about his chances, saying: "I'm not too far away.

"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 again. Hopefully, I can take advantage of the more benign conditions in the morning and shoot one under par and get back in it."

First round leader Suber finished Thursday on five-under 65, a stoke ahead of Dan Brown and Im Sung-jae. A group of nine players are all a shot further back on three-under, including Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Young and Robert MacIntyre.