A stone-cold putter cost an erratic Rory McIlroy on a frustrating first day at The Open as a two-over round of 72 left him seven shots off the lead and already facing an uphill battle.
The Masters champion was unfortunate in that he went out at 3.15 p.m. in what were the most difficult conditions of a day that began somewhat benign with no wind.
By the time he finished at 8:43 p.m. the greens, baked in the harsh sun all day, were at their crustiest and that might explain why he missed three putts from inside four feet and was 104th in the putting statistics.
And he was literally brought to his knees at the par-5 17th where, after hooking his approach into the gallery and then flying the green into a bunker, he contorted his stance to splash out to eight feet -- only to miss for a sixth bogey.
He at least finished on a positive with a brilliant approach from 198 yards to five feet and finally sank a short birdie putt.
But the distance to unknown American leader Jackson Suber meant his bid for a second Claret Jug and a seventh major -- which would officially make him the most successful European golfer of all time -- was dealt an early blow.
Each of the past 26 Open champions have been within five of the lead after the first round.
The morning starters benefited from a mere whiff of wind coming out of the east, but the world No. 2 went out with the breeze stiffening and moving to a more northerly direction off the sea.
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As a result, McIlroy found himself two over after seven having failed to get up and down at the par-3 fourth and two-putted from inside four feet at the short but tricky seventh.
He missed a three-footer at the next hole -- this time for birdie -- but finally got one to drop after driving the green at the downwind, 415-yard ninth to turn in one over.
Back-to-back bogeys at the start of his back nine halted any momentum as he dropped as low as 155th out of 156 in the putting statistics.
At the 13th, a 24-footer dropped into the side of the hole, encouraged by a sardonic tilt of the head from McIlroy, who was seemingly unimpressed by his second birdie of the day.
But he made a complete mess of the two par-5s -- having holed a 12-foot birdie at the 206-yard 15th -- but salvaged something late.