Friday 15 July 2016 06:50, UK
Rory McIlroy has made a bright start to The Open with a round of 69 but there are many other players in this field capable of winning, says Paul McGinley...
It was a good opening performance from Rory on Thursday and he's put himself in contention. It was pretty much what we expected from him, although Rory wouldn't have expected to be six behind at the end of the day after that superb 63 from Phil Mickelson.
It was surprising that Jordan Spieth shot 71, with Jason Day two shots worse, but this is not just a tournament for the 'big four'. There are so many other players in this field capable of winning The Open but as far as Rory is concerned, it was a good, bright start.
It was good to see him recover a couple of times. He got off to a relatively slow start, but he birdied the fourth and then had a burst of three in a row at six, seven and eight.
The double-bogey at 13 followed by a bogey at the 14th was obviously a disappointment, but he responded with a birdie at the next and parred in, so that was a good comeback.
It is so tough to play in a major championship without making mistakes, whatever the course and the conditions, and Rory McIlroy has openly admitted to a few "mental errors" he has made, particularly this year.
But he was unfortunate at the 13th - he hit a pretty good approach that took a firm first bounce and ended up over the back of the green. The tee-shot at 14 was maybe an unforced error, but show me a player who hasn't made a mistake like that in an Open.
These things happen in major championship golf, and it's the ability to bounce back from the errors that separate the great players from the rest. The way Rory bounced back today could set the tone for the tournament, and everybody is going to be making mistakes at some point.
One of the disappointments of the first round was Shane Lowry. Much was expected of him this week, especially given how well he played at the US Open, so it was a shame to see him struggle to a 78.
He came so close at Oakmont and then took a week off before heading back to the US, but he had a poor week at the WGC-Bridgestone and maybe lost a bit of confidence in Akron. He missed the cut in the Scottish Open last week, so he has clearly lost a lot of the momentum he gained at the US Open.
But that's the ebb and flow of professional golf, it happens to everyone.
Did his disappointment of the final day at Oakmont affect him more than he's letting on? I'm not so sure, and only Shane can answer that. He performed admirably all week there and he did very well to finish tied for second behind Dustin Johnson.
Dustin was a man on a mission on US Open Sunday and played a fantastic round, so Shane has nothing to be ashamed of to lose confidence over. It's a great achievement to finish second in a major, and to lead one after three rounds.
