McIlroy grabs two-shot Open lead with stunning 63

Rory McIlroy fired the lowest first round in British Open history, a nine-under par 63, to seize a two-stroke lead on Thursday and outshine top-ranked Tiger Woods at the famed Old Course.

McIlroy equalled the low round in any major, becoming the 22nd man to fire a 63, and is only the eighth player in British Open history with a 63, the second at St. Andrews after Englishman Paul Broadhurst in 1990's third round.

Had the 21-year-old from Northern Ireland not missed a five-foot birdie putt at the 17th, the fabled Road Hole that proved day one's hardest challenge, he would have made even more history at golf's birthplace.

"It sort of went through my mind at the 17th tee that 62 would be the lowest round in a major. Probably why I missed the putt," McIlroy said.

"I don't think I can come off feeling let down. I'm leading the Open Championship."

McIlroy took full advantage of ideal wind-less conditions on the defenceless Old Course early to finish two strokes ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen.

"Going out there with no wind, you are never going to get St. Andrews playing any easier," McIlroy said. "It gives me a little bit of a buffer out there going into the next three days."

Scotsman Andrew Coltart, England's Steven Tiley, Welshman Bradley Dredge, Sweden's Peter Hanson and American John Daly, who won the 1995 Open at St. Andrews, were three adrift.

Woods, the 2000 and 2005 Open champion here, was four back on 67 after taking a bogey at 17 and missing a birdie putt at 18.

"Today felt awkward because there was absolutely no wind whatsoever and you never play a links course with no wind," Woods said. "You had to take advantage of it. I felt like I did a pretty good job of that."

Woods shared eighth with fellow Americans Lucas Glover, Nick Watney and Sean O'Hair, England's Lee Westwood, Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed, Spain's Alejandro Canizares, German Marcel Siem and 2009 PGA Championship winner Yang Yong-Eun of South Korea, Asia's first major men's champion.

England's third-ranked Lee Westwood birdied the last five holes on the front nine and answered a bogey at 13 with a birdie at 14 to join the group on 67.

A Road Hole bogey also cost Oosthuizen, who had four birdies in a row ending at 10 and others at 14 and 15 after the wind came up before stumbling at 17 and scrambling for par at 18 for a 65.

"The first nine holes there were a lot of birdies out there," he said. "Got really windy when we turned on 12. From 16 to 18 was really windy. Definitely was a good round."

Afternoon wind boosted scores. World number two Phil Mickelson, among 42 players on the course, began with 12 pars before taking a double bogey, then followed with two pars.

McIlroy shot the first British Open 63 since Nick Faldo and Payne Stewart in the last round at Royal St. George's in 1993 and the first in a major since Woods in round two of the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

"This course just suits me," McIlroy said. "It just fits my eye."

Ninth-ranked McIlroy, who shared third at last year's PGA Championship, missed the cut at this year's Masters and US Open but silenced any skeptics on a course which he has never toured worse than 69..

McIlroy eagled the par-4 ninth, began the back nine with three birdies in a row and added a 12-foot birdie at the par-5 14th. He missed the birdie bid at 17 but finished with a four-foot birdie at 18.

"The eagle at nine turned things around," McIlroy said. "I got going from there."

Daly, 44, fired four birdies in a row and set himself up as a people's choice to hoist the Claret Jug as Tom Watson was last year and Greg Norman was in 2008, although both bids failed.

"It would be the most gratifying victory I could ever have," Daly said. "I would appreciate it more than any tournament I've won."

Daly has struggled with weight, women and alcohol but become beloved by fans in the process.

"I've never run from my mistakes," Daly said. "I have been the man you are supposed to be when you screw up and I've screwed up an awful lot. It's how you come back that matters."

Daly has not won since 2004 and has needed sponsor exemptions to play. He's ranked 455th and has only once broken the top 55 on the US tour this year.

After opening and closing the front nine with back-to-back birdies, Daly birdied 10 and 11 but took a bogey at 17 and had a birdie lip-out at 18, yet matched his low round of 2010.

If anyone was going to have a somewhat redemptive triumph this week, the money literally was on Woods, a betting favourite despite being winless since a five-month hiatus caused by a sex scandal that shattered his allure.

Polite applause greeted three-time Open winner Woods as it did at this year's Masters and US Open, where he shared fourth each time.

Woods, seeking a 15th major crown to move three shy of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record, sank a 25-foot birdie putt at nine then birdied three holes in a row starting at 12 before the bogey at 17.