The Open 2025 live: Latest leaderboard and scores with Rory McIlroy out early in second round at Royal Portrush

“ I had it going 3-under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well, played the last four at 1-under, and it was nice to shoot under par.

“I felt like, once we turned for home, like played 10 and turned back and played 11, the wind picked up a little bit, and it just became that little bit more difficult.

“Yeah, it was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort.

“Yeah, absolutely incredible. Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don’t want to let them down. So there’s that little bit of added pressure.

“I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.

“I was sort of surprised — there’s a few guys at 4-under, but I’m surprised 4-under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot 6 or 7 today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I’m really happy with where I am.”

Good morning and welcome to the Independent’s live coverage of the second round of The Open 2025.

With Rory McIlroy taking a big step towards banishing the demons of 2019 at Royal Portrush, a one-under-par round of 70 positions him nicely to contend for a second Claret Jug.

And McIlroy has a quick turnaround after a late finish and almost six hours out on the course on Thursday, with his group, alongside Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, out at 10:09am.

Follow for all the live scores, latest leaderboard and more throughout a big day as players battle to make the cut.

-4 Olesen (Den), Li (Chn), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Bezuidenhout (SA), English (US)

-3 Jordan (Eng), Scheffler (US), Kawekanjana (Tha), Hatton (Eng)

-2 Westwood (Eng), Rai (Eng), Rose (Eng)

-1 Rahm (Spa), Lowry (Ire), McIlroy (NI), Kimsey (Eng)

Level MacIntyre (Sco); +1 McKibbin (NI)

+4 Harrington (Ire), Clarke (NI)

Rory McIlroy looked like delivering the show the thousands who had flocked to Royal Portrush to cheer their returning hero expected, only for his bid for the first-round Open lead to collapse in the space of four holes on the back nine.

The Northern Irishman from an hour down the road in Holywood rarely comes to these parts due to commitments on the PGA Tour and on his last competitive visit in 2019 went home early after missing the cut.

But, after teeing off at 3.10pm with a four-under-par target in his sights, he recovered from a bogey at the first – a three-shot improvement on six years ago when he went out of bounds – to have a crowd 10 deep in places buzzing in anticipation.

The 61 he shot as a 16-year-old on this course was never on the cards, but three under through 10, having hit just two fairways, raised the prospect of a memorable first day.