Rory McIlroy shot 1 under Thursday at Royal Portrush, a better start than the first time he played the British Open at the Northern Ireland course near home.

By the time Rory McIlroy finished his first practice round for the British Open at Royal Portrush, a big crowd that weathered rain and sunshine was waiting to see him finish.

HOME HERO: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland made a late birdie for a 70 and was three shots behind. The last time he played the British Open at Royal Portrush, he made an 8 on the first hole, shot 79 and wound up missing the cut.

Five golfers are on top of The Open Championship leaderboard after one round of play at Royal Portrush. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li and Christaan Bezuidenhout all sit at four-under.

Rory McIlroy will be roared on in his homeland as the 153rd British Open gets underway at Royal Portrush on Thursday as world number one Scottie Scheffler seeks his first Claret Jug.The world number three has not won a tournament since lifting the Claret Jug a year ago and has not even managed a top-five finish in 12 tournaments this year.

The crowds following Rory McIlroy for three days at Royal Portrush have been enormous, a reminder of the expectations. On banners and flags and buntings of grandstands there are images of the claret jug,

The simplest one is to wager on the in-form golfers, a list led by Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy may get the nod over Scheffler in some circles this week because he's playing on home soil at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Let’s take a look at my top three matchup bets for this week’s action.