Patrick Cantlay shows Rory McIlroy how to do it at The Open after moment of misery

Patrick Cantlay made a mockery of a bunker at Royal Troon's infamous "Postage Stamp" after Rory McIlroy endured a miserable time in the same trap earlier on Thursday.

McIlroy was level for the day heading to the par-three eighth, which plays at just 123 yards, but his tee shot found the sand to the right of the green. The Ulsterman's first attempt to splash out lacked the requisite power, dribbling back into the trap before he finally found the putting surface with his third shot.

The 35-year-old's bogey putt slipped past the cup before tapping in for a double, which derailed his round. A bogey followed on the 10th before sending his tee shot on the 11th onto the train tracks, leading to another double.

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McIlroy finished the day at seven-over-par, facing an uphill battle on Friday just to make the cut on the Ayrshire coast. Cantlay, however, remains in with a shout, sitting at one-over-par through 11 holes of his opening round.

The highlight of his front nine came at the eighth. He found the same bunker as McIlroy but judged his second shot to perfection, holing out for a birdie two. The American, whose caddie Joe LaCava rowed with McIlroy at the Ryder Cup last year, could not see the ball go in from the bunker and he wore a stunned expression on his face as he emerged to cheers from the grandstands.

For McIlroy, though, there was plenty of soul-searching to do with another chance to end his 10-year wait for a fifth major win seemingly passing him by.

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"Difficult day," McIlroy said. "I felt like I did OK for the first part of the round and then missed the green at the Postage Stamp there and left it in and made a double. But still, felt like I was in reasonable enough shape being a couple over through nine, thinking that I could maybe get those couple shots back, try to shoot even par, something like that.

"Then hitting the ball out of bounds on 11, making a double there. Even though the wind on the back nine was helping, it was a lot off the left. I was actually surprised by how difficult I felt like the back nine played.

"I thought we were going to get it a little bit easier than we did. The course was playing tough. The conditions are very difficult in a wind that we haven't seen so far this week.

"I guess when that happens, you play your practice rounds, you have a strategy that you think is going to help you get around the golf course, but then when you get a wind you haven't played in, it starts to present different options and you start to think about maybe hitting a few clubs that you haven't hit in practice. Just one of those days where I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions."