J.B. Holmes leads the way at the 2019 British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland at five-under after Thursday's opening round.

The American produced a round of 66 to top the leaderboard by one shot from Ireland's Shane Lowry on a wet and windy day in County Antrim.

There are 14 players at three-under including Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.

British Open Leaderboard

J.B. Holmes (-5)

Shane Lowry (-4) 

Alex Noren (-3)

Webb Simpson (-3)

Sergio Garcia (-3)

Dylan Frittelli (-3)

Robert MacIntyre (-3)

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (-3)

Ryan Fox (-3)

Tyrrell Hatton (-3)

Tommy Fleetwood (-3)

Brooks Koepka (-3)

Lee Westwood (-3)

Tony Finau (-3)

John Rahm (-3)

Ashton Turner (-3)

The full leaderboard can be found on TheOpen.com

Thursday Recap

Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy endured a miserable first round on Thursday to leave his hopes of winning the title for a second time in tatters.

The Northern Irishman started off with a quadruple bogey after his tee shot when out of bounds:

He finished off with a triple bogey on the final hole to card an eight-over 79 and could not hide his disappointment at his performance in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live (h/t Saj Chowdhury at BBC Sport).

"I would like to punch myself. I made a couple of stupid mistakes," he said. "I was pretty nervous on the first tee and hit a bad shot. I showed some resilience in the middle of the round and was trying to fight back into the championship but then I finished off poorly as well."

Defending champion Francesco Molinari also found it tough going on Thursday. The Italian started with a three-over 74 and has a lot of work to do to get back into contention.

Three-time champion Tiger Woods also toiled and produced his worst-ever opening round at the Open:

Woods hit a string of bogies on the front nine and did not pick up his first, and only, birdie of the day until the 15th. 

While it was a poor day for some of the big names, Argentina's Emiliano Grillo produced a moment to remember at the 13th hole.

The 26-year-old hit the British Open's first hole-in-one since 2016:

Meanwhile, Holmes is the man to beat ahead of Friday's second round after an eventful day. He started off with a bogey but then produced three birdies from the next four holes.

The 37-year-old also secured a three-under back nine to take his place as the overnight leader.

It was also a good day for Lowry who is just a shot behind. The 32-year-old carded his lowest ever opening round at a major tournament:

PGA Championship winner Koepka is also well-placed as he bids for his first Open title:

The American could have done even better but a bogey at the 17th saw him drop a shot and join a raft of players two shots behind Holmes after an intriguing day of action at Royal Portrush.