Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy hailed his first-day play after shooting 66 at the British Open. Now comes the hard part: breaking his Friday jinx to remain among the leaders.
Seeking his first British Open victory, McIlroy established himself as the early leader by going 6 under par on Thursday.
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Making the most of favorable conditions, McIlroy played a blemish-free round that left him grateful for having played in the Scottish Open at another links course in Aberdeen last weekend.
"It sort of does constitute the perfect round, especially in the first round of an Open," he told the BBC. "I couldn't ask for anymore. I stuck to my game plan, focused on the par five and tried to pick up other shots.
"For the most part my golf ball was under control and I'm very happy.
"I'm really glad I went up to Aberdeen last week and played four competitive rounds of links golf. The conditions are perfect and that's why so many guys are under par but it was great to get some competitive golf coming into this week.
"I'm playing well, swinging the club really nicely, holed some nice putts and I'll try to continue to do that and hopefully have another solid round" on Friday.
"I won't approach it differently. They're forecasting a little more wind, I'm at 6 under par and just keep it going one shot at a time."
McIlroy's best finish at The Open came in 2010, when he finished in a tie for third at St. Andrews.