SOUTHPORT, England — Rory McIlroy, one of the favorites at this week’s British Open at Royal Birkdale, looked queasy at times in Thursday’s roller-coaster opening round.
He finished the day 2-over par after shooting 72, but birdied 18 to get there.
He ended the day seven shots behind leader Jackson Suber.
“I’ll start with the positives,’’ McIlroy said. “I drove the ball incredibly well. I took on the golf course off the tee. Obviously, with the positions that I put myself in off the tee, I feel like I obviously should have shot a better score.’’
He bogeyed both par-5s and his putting was a struggle.
“Just too many stupid mistakes,’’ he said. “But every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it. (I’m) not too far away. Go out there and shoot a good one and get myself right back in it for the weekend.’’
James Nicholas, the pride of Scarsdale, shot a 5-over 75 on Thursday in his first British Open round, and he went to bed hoping he’d be able to play a second round Friday.
Nicholas has been hampered by bone bruises at the bottom of both his feet after having to jump over a fence to get to his car at a recent tournament in Spain.
He revealed to The Post that he may be forced to withdraw if the pain doesn’t subside.
Nicholas, who didn’t even play a practice round Wednesday to rest his feet, is not scheduled to tee off until 11:41 a.m. local time Friday, which is later than his 6:35 a.m. time Thursday.
But still, he said he was in considerable pain and was “hopeful’’ he’d be able to play.
Nicholas said he was “disappointed’’ with his start to the tournament because he thought the course was receptive to scoring.
“I’m on a run of form at the moment, playing really good and not getting much out of it, so I’m a bit frustrated,’’ he said. “I didn’t really take advantage of the conditions, either. Conditions are great out there, really good for scoring.’’
He’s eight shots off the lead and needs a low round Friday to make it to the weekend — if he’s able to play at all.
Matt Baldwin, who’s a member at Birkdale and got into the field through qualifying, played in the first group off alongside Nicholas and hit the first shot of the tournament, an honor Nicholas had in last month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock.
“It was an incredible feeling,’’ Baldwin said. “It was terrifying. It was overwhelming. But it’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.’’
In the interview he granted to the R&A internal video team, Bryson DeChambeau raved about playing in the same group as Scottie Scheffler, who’s been ranked No. 1 in the world for the last three years and is defending champion this week.
“It was fun playing with Scottie, seeing how good he strikes the ball,’’ DeChambeau said. “I’ve wanted to play with him for a while now. Seeing how he struck the ball today was beautiful. (It) makes me think, ‘Oh, man, I’ve got to work on my driving and 3-wood a little bit better,’ because I hit it farther than him, but it sometimes doesn’t go straight.’’
DeChambeau, who shot 67 to Scheffler’s 68, called the experience “a good gauge’’ for him.
“It tells me kind of where my game’s at,’’ he said. “Also, it shows me where he’s at. It’s good to see it in person. You always see it on TV, but it’s just a little different sometimes when you’re right there.”
One of the funny exchanges of the week came in an interview with Australia’s Travis Smyth, who was reveling in a nine-hole practice round he played with Scheffler on Wednesday.
“Yesterday was sweet, playing with Scottie for the first time,’’ Smyth said. “Watching the precision of his iron play was amazing. It was a great experience watching him play. He’s a lovely guy, really down to earth, which I’m happy about. He’s not like a d–khead or anything, so it was good.’’
