Rory McIlroy shows fighting spirit after horror front nine

Rory McIlroy staged a stirring Open Championship fightback at Royal Birkdale that will send him into today’s second round feeling he can get right among the leaders.

McIlroy’s opening round of two halves saw the Irishman go out in 39, five over par, and come home in 32 for a one-over 71 that leaves him six shots off a trio of Americans at the top of a quality leaderboard on five under, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, and Matt Kuchar.

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and Englishman Paul Casey are a shot back on four under following opening rounds of 66 while there is a six-way tie for sixth place just two strokes off the pace. That group features Ian Poulter, the runner-up here when Pádraig Harrington lifted the Claret Jug at Birkdale in 2008, last Sunday’s Scottish Open winner Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain, Americans Justin Thomas and Charley Hoffman, another Englishman in Richard Bland, and Canada’s Alex Connelly.