Sun sets on first day at The Open

A good day, but a long day.

That may just about sum up the feelings of many, including home favourite Rory McIlroy, as the sun set on the opening day of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush on Thursday.

Two time champion Padraig Harrington struck the first shot in anger just after 6.30am, with the final players finishing their rounds in the gathering dusk some 15 hours later.

Among them was the aforementioned McIlroy who banished some of the demons from 2019, when he endured a miserable opening round, to finish just three shots behind the overnight leaders with a McIlroy-esque kinda round.

Some wayward driving off the tee laced with moments of brilliance - just what his legions of fans, and I mean legions, have come to expect from the mercurial Holywood superstar.

Make no mistake: the world's number two golfer is the man most have come to see, something he is acutely aware of.

"Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down so there's that little bit of added pressure," he admitted moments after striding off the 18th green.

"I felt like I dealt with it really well today, I certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.

"I knew what to expect, it wasn't new to me, so I think just having that experience of six years ago was definitely helpful.

"I just think it's back to knowing what to expect. I didn't feel like I was walking into the unknown this time around, where last time I hadn't experienced that before. I hadn't played an Open at home.

"I didn't know how I was going to feel. I didn't know the reaction I was going to get where this time I had a better idea of what was going to be coming my way.

"It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort.

"There's a few guys at four under but I'm surprised four under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot six or seven today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am," he added.

Four players are tied for the lead at four under including Denmark's Jacob Olesen, China's Haotong Lee, Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa.

Play resumes on Friday morning.