Nice hands from McIlroy to flick a nice little chip to within gimme range on the 14th and he gets the shot right back he gave away on the last.

McIlroy's shown incredible patience in all the majors this season and his attitude to dropping a shot on 13 was spot-on.

He's back in business.

Image source, Getty Images

Golf isn't necessarily a young man's game any more, you know.

Last year, we saw Phil Mickelson show the young bucks how it's done by winning the US PGA Championship at the tender age of 50.

Might we see something similar from fresh-faced 49-year-old Lee Westwood? Well, he's off to a rock-solid start anyway, popping in his short birdie putt on the 18th.

He's skipped around in 68 today. Could it finally be Westy's week? I'm not ruling it out.

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport at St Andrews

There were two distinct themes to Tiger Woods' news conference on Tuesday - his opposition to the LIV Golf Series and love for St Andrews' iconic Old Course - but essentially both of those are borne from the same place: a belief the game is about history, glory and hard graft.

Woods was like a kid on Christmas morning at getting to have his picture taken on the Swilcan Bridge with Jack Nicklaus - the only man to have won more majors than him - during Monday's Celebration of Champions and playing with the likes of Lee Trevino.

The Old Course is his favourite track, he has won two of his three Open titles at St Andrews and the American is completely invested in the history and nostalgia of the place.

He even missed last month's US Open to make sure he was ready to compete here: "I don't know how many Open Championships I have left here at St Andrews but I wanted this one.

"It started here for me in '95 and if it ends here in '22, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. If I get the chance to play one more, it would be great, but there's no guarantee."

A spot of bunker bother for Johnson, who does well in the end to just drop the one shot at the fourth to slip back to level par.

One of the things which you have to love about Tiger Woods is the fact he's a straight-up golf geek.

Loves the history, loves the tradition.

So it's no surprise to see the 15-time major champion kitted out in a navy sleeveless jumper and smart white cap.

None of these skinny gym trousers or bucket hats in his wardrobe.

Woods has been knocking some balls on the range, swing looking as smooth as a clock pendulum.

Half an hour to go until he steps out. Tick tock...

Shane Lowry's birdie putt - if you can call it that - is all of 150 feet at the 13th. He doesn't give it nearly enough and can't roll the par one in either. Back to +1.

Viktor Hovland also drops one but Justin Thomas remains as steady as ever. He's still blemish-free.

Cameron Young leads The Open after his stunning round of 64, but that's still one shot more than a young, fresh faced Rory McIlroy took for his record opening round here in 2010.

Rob Nothman
Reporter on BBC Radio 5 live

The gulls are big here and we can see why…

Image source, BBC Sport

Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter, two of the biggest names to join the rebel LIV Golf Invitational Series, played down suggestions they had received a hostile reception during the first round.

Briton Poulter was booed on the first tee before shooting a three-under-par 69 and Mickelson (72) was unfazed by his decision not to attend the pre-tournament champions dinner.

American six-times major champion Mickelson: "The R&A contacted me a couple weeks before and said, look, we don't think it's a great idea you go, but if you want to, you can.

"I just didn't want to make a big deal about it, so I said fine. We both kind of agreed that it would be best if I didn't."

He did bristle when asked again about the champions dinner. "Let it go, dude. Let it go," he said. "That's three times you've asked the same question. I don't know what to tell you. I couldn't be happier."

Image source, Getty Images

Poulter: "I actually thought I had a great reception on the first tee, to be honest. All I heard was clapping.

"Oh, my gosh, I have heard not one heckle. In three weeks, I've heard nothing.

"You lot can write whatever you like about being heckled and booing."

Image source, Getty Images

Strewth! What have they been putting in the Vegemite (or other favoured yeast extract product)?

Another Aussie has made a flavoursome start on the Old Course.

Marc Leishman, who was the runner-up here in 2015, starts birdie-par-birdie.

Leishman said he has a "bee in his bonnet" about winning at St Andrews after losing to Zach Johnson in a play-off seven years ago.

He's already buzzing in a positive sense.

World number one Scottie Scheffler gets his first birdie of the day after a near miss on two to dip under par for the tournament.

With everything that's been going on, incredibly the top-ranked golfer in the world who also happens to have won the Masters this year has hardly been talked about!

It's almost time for Tiger Woods, so let BBC Sport take you back to the 2000 & 2005 Open Championships as Woods dominates both at St. Andrews.

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport at St Andrews

Image source, Getty Images

A budding bromance? John Daly has also been talking about how much he enjoyed playing with Bryson DeChambeau today.

"Great kid. I love watching him play. It's really cool," he said. "He knew the course. He knew what he was doing. I'm thinking on two and three and a few of the holes on the front, I think if he hits driver, he could drive two, he could almost drive three.

"He played real conservative. That's his game plan. If I had that power, I'd be trying to drive some of those par-fours. As good as he hits it, as far and as straight as he hits it, that's what I would do.

"Jack (Nicklaus) always said avoid the least amount of bunkers you can off the tee, but two and three, none of those bunkers come in play for him. But he's got his game plan.

"If I had that power, I'd be hitting driver on every freakin' hole, man. I'd be loading up, trying to drive them all."

Ohhh YES! We saw Paul Lawrie eagle the 18th earlier and Danny Willett's just done the same, judging his 41-foot putt to perfection!

That's a three-under 69 for the 2016 Masters champion, who's beaming from ear to ear after that spectacular finish.

Another hole, another birdie putt for Ernie Els.

This one is longer than the previous one on 14, he probably doesn't want to go gung ho.

Nope, a steady touch leaves it short but that should be enough for the par.... Indeed it is.

Shout out for the yellow ball, too. Don't see many of them in a major.

Maybe it was self-kidology. Thinking he might need it for scavenging in the rough, the 52-year-old is largely illuminating fairways.

There are sometimes good bogeys, and this one will go down as a good one for McIlroy considering he's produced a stunner of a putt from all of 94 feet!

He's almost holed it in the end as it finishes just a foot away, and after that dodgy chip to just drop one stroke is a result.

Morikawa also drops a shot after three-putting from a similar distance just to show what an effort that was from McIlroy.

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer at St Andrews

It’s always the same at St Andrews but the pace of play is slooooow. Four hours in and Rory’s group are only on the 13th. Gridlock. There’s been a few mutterings about it among the players. You have to wonder how all this hanging about will impact Tiger and his stiffening joints later on. Watch out for his stretch routine,

Lee Westwood missed the 17th fairway to the left - something you simply can't do at the Road Hole - and can't escape with a par.

However, a three at the last will give him a 68.

McIlroy would've been better off in the bunker, as he has to try and pinch a chip off the turf and somehow land it in between two huge humps where the flag is, but sadly his ball catches the down slope and races away like a scalded cat miles away on this massive green - that's a tough two-putt from there.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Clubhouse leader Cameron Young is a pretty laid back character, as he spoke about his debut round at The Open:

"I tried to plan out my day, and I think it went relatively well. I happened to hit some wedges close, and I'm pretty sure I hit zero bunkers. I hit a lot of good shots but I still had to work my way round and I think I did a good job playing smart golf .

"I don't mean to sound like I am not thrilled with my round but the process we went through and how I managed the round got me through.

"Every tournament is so different. It is helpful to been around major championships - I think this is my sixth or seventh, that experience is helpful but it is a lot of work."