Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry carded one-under par opening rounds of 70 to leave themselves well placed after Day 1 of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
On a day marred by slow play, in which McIlroy took almost six hours to complete his round alongside playing partners Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas, the Irish duo posted one-under par scores to lie three strokes adrift the leaders.
A quintet of players currently hold the lead on four-under par, with 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick the only major winner of the bunch, which includes Denmark's Jacob Skov Olesen - currently world no 354 - China's Li Haotong, South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout and the American Harris English, who finished his round just before 9.30pm.
The home duo were very much the star attraction, Lowry having won the Open at this venue in memorable fashion in 2019, while the sense of anticipation was at fever pitch when the Masters champion McIlroy teed off at 3.10pm.
While there was no repeat of his out-of-bounds quadruple-bogey eight at the first when the major made its long-awaited return to the Dunluce Links in 2019, McIlroy still missed the fairway and bogeyed.
But with galleries 10-deep in places craning their necks to see their hero from an hour down the road in Holywood, McIlroy kicked into gear, holing from 15 feet at the par-five second and a 27-footer up the slope for birdie at the driveable par-four fifth.
After leaving another birdie attempt inches short at the next, he made life easier for himself at the 607-yard seventh. Having found rough on both sides of the fairway, he hit a brilliant approach to three feet to pick up another shot.
A seven-foot birdie opportunity glided by the hole at the eighth, where he managed to find his first fairway, and he two-putted from 33 feet to turn in 34.
But over the course of the next four holes that waywardness off the tee took its toll with three bogeys, including one at the course's easiest hole, the par-five 11th, and only a 12-foot par save at the 15th prevented further damage.
There was a much-needed birdie from similar distance at the penultimate hole, having again gone left off the tee, and even though his 44-footer for a 69 grazed the cup at the 18th, the fans went home happy, with their man just three off the pace.
"I had it going three under through 10 and let a few slip around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well and played the last four in one under and it was just nice to finish under par," McIlroy said.
"It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers."
2019 winner Lowry had already posted the same score, having teed off in the morning wave.
Playing alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa, Lowry started very strongly and birdied the second and sixth before dropping his first shot fo the day at challenging par-four ninth.
He dropped another shot on the par-three 13th but the Offaly man will have been delighted to roll in a superb birdie putt at 17 to ensure his challenge started with an under-par round.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said he felt nerves beginning his round due to an eagerness to perform well: "I put up that with the first year of playing Ryder Cup. I was fighting with that all morning this morning. It's going to be alright for the rest of the week. I just wanted to get my tournament underway.
"Obviously I want so much to do well in this tournament. I want so much to give myself a chance on Sunday and you can't do that without hitting a good first tee shot and I knew I needed to do that and I was happy to get it away."
"It was hard [to play in difficult conditions]. I watched a bit of golf early this morning and I could see how firm the golf course had gotten in the last day. I played a lot of golf around the country in the last few weeks and the weather has been perfect and then you go out today [and it's completely different].
"I adapted pretty well and I think I played really well today, I was very happy with my day."
Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick's form continued its upward trend after a four-under-par 67 gave him a share of the lead.
Fitzpatrick was eighth in May's US PGA Championship, but that was a high point in an otherwise disappointing season until back-to-back top-10 finishes in his last two events pointed towards an upturn.
And that timing was impeccable as he got off to a flying start with a 22-foot eagle putt at the second hole, although he immediately bogeyed the next.
Two more birdies were to follow, but the highlight was holing out for birdie from the steep bank on the treacherous Calamity Corner par-three 16th which put him into a share of the lead set by Li and Olesen.
The 26-year-old Danish left-hander, who won the Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin in Ireland last summer, only turned professional in November after earning his DP World Tour card.
That meant he had to sacrifice his amateur exemptions for this year's Masters and US Open so this was only his second appearance at one of golf's premier events after debuting at Troon 12 months ago.
After making the turn in one under, he birdied the 10th, holed a 40-foot eagle putt at the 12th and chipped in for birdie at the 15th to move clear on five under but bogeyed the last.
Padraig Harrington had the honour of hitting the opening shot and the two-time Champion Golfer proceeded to birdie the opening hole.
However a few errant tee shots cost the Dubliner, who carded a 75 in the end.
His playing partner Tom McKibbin fared better, briefly leading at two-under early on before a three-over back nine saw him finish on one-over 72.
Another former winner Darren Clarke joined Harrington on four over after a 75.
Scheffler looked steady as always as he carded a three-under 68. A solid opening round that he might allow himself to celebrate for a minute or two.
The world number one missed a birdie putt at the last which would have given him a share of the lead, but his 68 was the lowest score by a player who hit three or fewer fairways in The Open for last 25 years.
"When it's raining sideways it’s actually, believe it or not, not that easy to get the ball in the fairway. Thank you guys all for pointing that out," said the reigning US PGA champion.
Asked whether there was a shot he was really pleased with, he replied: "No."
The morning was also good for Phil Mickelson, who carded his best Open round since the third day at Carnoustie in 2018 with a one-under 70 – the highlight of which was a holed bunker shot for par at the third having left his first in the sand.
The 2013 Open champion has missed the cut in five of his last seven majors and since the 2023 Masters has not finished higher than 43rd.
English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Jordan, one of only two players in the field with top-10 Open finishes in the previous two years, were also three under, with 52-year-old compatriot Lee Westwood marking his 30th anniversary at the tournament with a two-under 69.
With additional material: PA
