​Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland GettyRory McIlroy of Northern Ireland GettyRory McIlroy endured a frustrating opening day at the 154th Open Championship, carding a two-over 72 at Royal Birkdale after battling inconsistent putting throughout his first round. Despite driving the ball impressively and creating numerous scoring opportunities, the Northern Irishman was unable to capitalize, leaving himself work to do heading into Friday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe two-time Open champion pointed to the condition of the greens as one of the biggest challenges after his round. McIlroy said varying surfaces made it difficult to judge pace, contributing to several costly missed putts. “I felt like they were very inconsistent,” he said. “Some parts of the greens are still alive and growing and other parts have went really dead.”Rory McIlroyGettyRory McIlroy of Northern IrelandMcIlroy began steadily with three consecutive pars before his putting troubles emerged.Although he drove the ball exceptionally well throughout the afternoon, he finished the day ranked near the bottom of the field in strokes gained putting after missing several short opportunities.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementReflecting on his performance, McIlroy first highlighted the positives.“I drove the ball incredibly well,” he said.“I took the golf course on 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 also felt he handled many of Royal Birkdale’s toughest holes well.“Played the hard holes well. Birdied 13, 15 and 18 on the back.”However, McIlroy said the greens created significant challenges early in the round.“The two bogeys on the par-5s wasn’t great and I struggled the first two holes to get the speed of the greens.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I felt like they were very inconsistent, just because some parts of the greens are still alive and growing and other parts have went really dead.”He compared the conditions to another major championship venue.“It sort of reminds me a bit of Pebble Beach when Pebble Beach gets like that for a U.S. Open. It’s just hard to judge the speed sometimes.”Despite the mistakes, McIlroy kept himself within reach of the leaders by responding with timely birdies.“Every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it.”Looking ahead to the second round, he remained optimistic.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Not too far away. Hopefully we’ll get the better conditions tomorrow and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning.”Rory McIlroyGettyRory McIlroy of Northern IrelandMcIlroy said the biggest issue was not simply missing putts but losing trust in his reads after several early misses.He explained that once confidence begins to fade on the greens, it becomes increasingly difficult to commit to each stroke.“I feel like I missed a c