Rory McIlroy remains confident he can make the cut at The Open, despite his nightmare first round at Royal Portrush yesterday.

The world number three made a quadruple bogey on the first hole and triple-bogeyed the eighteenth to leave him 13 shots off the pace at eight-over-par.

McIlroy, who hasn't won a major since 2014, is hopeful of a better round this afternoon.

“I definitely think if I can put the ball in the fairway tomorrow I can shoot a good enough score to be around for the weekend.

“Obviously I’m pretty sure anyone starting with a 79 in this golf tournament doesn’t think about winning at this point. But I think I can go out there and shoot something in the mid-60s, be around for the weekend, and then try to play good from there."

The 30-year-old says he made far too many errors in his opening round.

“I would like to punch myself. I made a couple of stupid mistakes. I was pretty nervous on the first tee and hit a bad shot. I showed some resilience in the middle of the round and was trying to fight back into the championship but then I finished off poorly as well, seven over par combined on the first and last holes makes it very hard for you.

“At the end of the day I play golf to fulfill my ambitions not anyone else’s but I wish I could have given the crowd something to cheer about,” he said.

“I let myself down more than anyone else and need to pick myself back up.”