Rory McIlroy is three shots off the lead after a solid back-nine in the opening round at The Open.
McIlroy carded a two-under 69 to leave him in a good position behind American Kevin Kisner, who is currently leading at the tournament.
It was a steady display from McIlroy overall, hitting three birdies throughout along with just one bogey on the par four fifth before finishing strong on the turn to leave himself in good shape heading into Friday.
The 29-year-old managed to hit just four out of 15 fairways from the tee and missed some short putts but he dropped just one shot throughout.
"If anything I may have been a touch more conservative," McIlroy told Sky Sports after his first round.
"I was hitting driver as much as I could but was missing it both ways and was a bit more conservative coming in. But I stayed positive coming in and I'm happy with the way I hung in there.
"You have to be cautious and not take as much risk but when a ball presents a chance to be aggressive, you have to be."
Roars for @McIlroyRory as he saves par at the 16th
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2018
Leaderboard https://t.co/gVDayzkpiZ#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/yhN6nCbKco
The 2014 Open champion also hit back at suggestions from Butch Harmon that he looked robotic after shooting an opening-round 69 at the Open.
Renowned coach Harmon suggested the former world number one's putting stroke looked too mechanical as he practised at Carnoustie this week.
McIlroy has not won a major in four years with his touch on the greens being regarded as one of his shortcomings of late.
"He looks like a robot out there when I see him practice putting," said Sky Sports pundit Harmon.
McIlroy was unconcerned by the remarks.
McIlroy responded by saying: "Look, I like Butch (but) definitely I would say I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum than someone that's mechanical.
"It's easy to make comments when you don't know what's happening. I haven't spoken to Butch in a long time. He doesn't know what I'm working on in my swing, he doesn't know what's in my head.
"So it's easy to make comments and easy to speculate but, unless you actually know what's happening, I just really don't take any notice of it."
