The 153rd Open - Day one digest

Everything you need to know from round one at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Five players were tied at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of The 153rd Open following a thrilling day in Northern Ireland where a home favourite shone.

Here is everything you need to know from round one at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Roars for Rory

Home hero and reigning Masters Champion McIlroy delighted the crowds in County Antrim with some world-class shots on Thursday afternoon. He was particularly impressive from the rough, almost holing this approach shot at the seventh for an eagle before settling for a birdie...

And he set up another birdie with a stunning shot from thicker rough at the tenth on his way to an opening 70 which sees him sit three shots off the lead.

Fitzpatrick's slam dunk

Matt Fitzpatrick looked to be in trouble when he missed the green at the tricky par-three 16th. But the Englishman pulled off a brilliant recovery shot, holing out for birdie from the steep bank on the treacherous Calamity Corner to reach four under par. He sat in a share of the lead alongside Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Harris English.

Bezuidenhout goes close at the last

Bezuidenhout went agonisingly close to leading on his own on five under with his birdie effort at the 18th but the 25-foot putt just missed the hole.

Brown's bonus birdie

Dan Brown looked set to miss out on a birdie at the sixth as his superb chip shot slowly edged past the hole, but some late spin saw it drop in through the back door for a brilliant two.

Li goes bogey-free

Keeping your card clean on this course is not an easy feat but Li managed it on day one with a sensational 67 which featured birdies at the fifth, seventh, tenth and 17th. He said: "I've been playing quite solid the whole year so far until the last couple of weeks, so hopefully keep the momentum and have some good results come in."