Open favourite Rory McIlroy was battling to recover from a nightmare start to his bid to lift the Claret Jug on home soil after recording a quadruple bogey on the first hole at Royal Portrush.

Northern Ireland’s best hope for a home winner could hardly have begun in worse fashion after pulling his opening tee shot out of bounds on the 424-yard par four.

McIlroy’s wayward iron shot hit a female spectator and damaged a mobile phone in her pocket before ending up five feet outside the white posts which mark the internal out of bounds.

The four-time major winner, who set the course record of 61 at Portrush aged 16, then found the left rough with his second attempt and hacked his fourth shot into a bush from where he took a penalty drop, chipped to seven feet and two-putted for a demoralising eight.

The first five holes were playing downwind and offering plenty of birdie opportunities, but McIlroy could not take advantage of the par-five second and dropped another shot on the third after his tee shot ran through the green.

More trouble looked on the cards on the reachable par-four fifth hole after McIlroy carved his tee shot into heavy rough, but he was fortunate to find the ball and almost holed his birdie attempt after pitching to 30 feet.

McIlroy picked up his first birdie of the day on the par-five seventh and narrowly missed for another on the next, those two holes being created from the adjacent Valley Links to replace the original 17th and 18th which are being used to house the spectator village.

A birdie from 15 feet on the ninth took McIlroy to the turn in three over par and seven shots behind clubhouse leader Shane Lowry, the Irishman carding five birdies and a solitary bogey on the difficult 11th in an opening 67, the lowest opening round of his career in any major.

However, things took another bad turn for the Northern Irishman on the 16th hole.

Sitting already on three over, McIlroy had a simple five-foot putt for par, but he sent the ball past the hole. He then seemingly had a simple tap in from a couple of feet for a bogey, but he again missed that putt, leaving him having to settle for a double bogey.

McIlroy ended his round on eight over.