Day of ups and downs leaves McIlroy trailing but still in hunt for the Open | Paul MacInnes

Rory McIlroy fared better than his high-profile playing partners, but all three will feel frustration after sloppy errors

The first tee at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club felt like the place to be at 2.59pm on Thursday afternoon. There, a massed crowd waited patiently for Jon Rahm, Justin Rose and the man known simply as Rory to get their tournament under way at the Open. There were cheers, there was hush and, after the players sent their drives bursting into the sunshine, a slightly lubricated tribute could be heard from behind the cordon: “This is a lovely group!”

In the end, the wisdom of the crowd turned out to be largely misplaced. This inaugural gathering of the “Three Rs” failed to match expectations both high and middling. For much of the round the most memorable moment remained when Rahm, the player ranked third in the world, found a bunker after pinging the ball off a spectator’s head. Lovely was not quite the word, and although the fan remained conscious he had to be attended to by paramedics.