Rory McIlroy took encouragement from his fighting finish after recording a level-par first-round 71 at the Open on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman endured a frustrating start to his latest quest to reclaim the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool with a mixed round featuring three birdies and three bogeys.

It might even have been worse after he found a greenside bunker at the par-five 18th and needed two shots to escape the sand trap.

Yet he held his nerve to save par from 10 feet and keep himself within five strokes of joint-leaders Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo and Christo Lamprecht.

“You are just hoping to make par somehow and get out of there,” said McIlroy of the final hole.

“I got lucky because that ball could have gone into a deeper part of my footprints and I could have been there all night. It was a really good par in the end.

“I was probably hoping for a bit more at the start of the day but, overall, two over through 12 – to get it back to even for the day, I’m pretty pleased with that.

“I could have let that round get away from me but I didn’t with the two birdies on the back nine.”

McIlroy, who is bidding to end a nine-year major drought this week, believes he has given himself a platform to build on in the coming days.

The 34-year-old, champion last time the Open was held at Hoylake in 2014, said: “I didn’t really get it going on the front nine. I missed a few putts.

“A few putts started to go in on the back nine, which is nice to see. Hopefully I’ve got my eye in now and I can build on that over the next three days.

“I needed to stay patient out there. It wasn’t easy but I am still right in there.

“I need to shoot something in the 60s tomorrow and I will be right there for the weekend.”

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