Rory McIlroy at British Open 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction

Rory McIlroy shot a two-under par round of 69 on Day 1 of the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon.

The Northern Irishman’s quest for a second win in this illustrious competition got off to a strong start, as he made five birdies in his round.

McIlroy was four-under par through the front nine, but like plenty of players on course, he found the finish tough to master. He made a double bogey at 13 and a bogey at 14, but he picked up a shot on the way in to remain in a strong position.

Here is the scorecard in full for the 2014 Open champion and a detailed look at how the world No. 4 got his quest for more major glory started.

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	4	4	5	3	5	4	3	4	36
Round 1 Score	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	2	4	32
Overall	E	E	E	-1	-1	-2	-3	-4	-4
Par	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	35
Round 1 Score	4	4	4	6	4	3	5	3	4	37
Overall	-4	-4	-4	-2	-1	-2	-2	-2	-2

Here is how things are shaping up at Troon on Thursday:

Solid Start for McIlroy

As a front-runner, getting off to a strong start at Troon was always going to be vital for McIlroy. The 27-year-old was forced to battle hard in the opening stages of his round, though, hitting a few loose shots.

But battle he did. On the first hole, the Irishman found the green-side bunker, one that caused Colin Montgomerie big problems earlier in the day. But he hit a strong recovery to make par, and the PGA Tour Twitter feed was impressed:

Following on from the opening hole, McIlroy made par on two and three, but with plenty of players lighting up their scorecard on the front nine, there was a sense he needed a spark.

It came at the par-five fourth, when he made his first birdie of the day. After a par at the fifth, the four-time major winner had to lay up at the par-five sixth, but he made a clutch putt to pick up a shot. His momentum was beginning to build.

McIlroy made another putt from the edge of the green for a birdie at seven to move to three-under. Suddenly, the Irishman was striding and swinging with a swagger.

BEN STANSALL/Getty Images

That confidence manifested itself at the dangerous eighth hole, dubbed the “Postage Stamp.” McIlory knocked his tee shot to within a couple of feet for a tap-in birdie; here he is finishing that simple putt to go four-under, per Sky Sports Golf:

At nine, a monster drive was followed by a masterful approach. But McIlroy’s luck wasn’t in, as his iron ricocheted off the pin and to the fringe. He made par to round off a strong front nine of 32, although a testing finish was still to come.

It started with a solid par at 10, before McIlroy recovered well after a wayward tee shot on 11, putting from off the green to within inches of the hole to save par. 

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

After another par at 12, the back nine at Troon showed its teeth at 13. McIlroy looked to have hit a good shot into the green, but his ball kicked on over the back, leaving a treacherous downhill chip. The Irishman's effort was too far past, and he three-putted from 40 feet for a double-bogey blemish.

As ESPN's Jason Sobel noted, it was an elementary error from the former winner:

Things got no easier at 14, as he buried his tee shot in the green-side bunker. McIlroy played out sideways to the back of the green and could only make bogey from there. In the space of a couple of holes, he was back down at one-under par.

McIlroy bounced back like a multi-major champion does, though. At 15, he hit his approach close and rolled in an excellent putt to move back to two-under. Here's a look at that birdie:

A bobble when putting at 16 denied him a second in succession, before an approach to the middle of the green at the tricky 17th resulted in a no-frills par. Another monster drive and solid approach set up an outside birdie chance at the last for McIlroy, but his putt just slipped by for a 69.

"After a slow start I made a run of birdies," he said afterwards to Sky Sports (h/t BBC Sport). "Ten and 11 were the hardest on the course and I negotiated those pretty well. Something in the 60s was a solid start."

As the European Tour Twitter feed noted afterwards, this round represents a positive omen for McIlroy:

Overall, McIlroy struck the ball well on Thursday and holed some tremendous putts at times. The errors that cost him were small and sometimes unfortunate but very detrimental to his round.

If he plays in a similar style on Friday afternoon, the former winner will find himself in fine shape heading into the weekend. With the wind and rain set to whip up on Day 2, McIlroy will be hoping the class he showcased for the majority of this round will be enough to see him move up the leaderboard.