Rory McIlroy said it took a stern pep talk from his caddie to keep alive his chances of claiming the Claret Jug for the second time.
The former world number one, who went into the tournament having missed three cuts out of four, bogeyed five of the opening six holes in a horrendous start at Royal Birkdale.
But the Northern Irishman fought his way back into the tournament with a gritty back nine, picking up four birdies on his way to a one over par 71.
Afterwards McIlroy thanked caddie JP Fitzgerald for sparking him into life.
He said: “I was nervous going out, a little anxious and timid.
“I didn’t have as much belief in myself as I should have had and JP gave me a good talking to.
“On the sixth tee he just sort of reminded me who I was and what I was capable of and gave me a few positive thoughts.
“JP said, ‘You’re Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?’
“At that point I mumbled, ‘Yeah, whatever’ but it definitely helped.
“It kept me positive so he did a great job.
“With the weather we’re expecting, I still feel I’m in the golf tournament.
“If I can go out and play a quality round of golf in the morning and try to get in the clubhouse somewhere around even par or under par, I’ll still be around for the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Paul Casey warmed up for this week’s Open championship with a gruelling 300-mile bike ride through Italy but showed no signs of fatigue after shooting an opening 66.
The Englishman, who turns 40 today, made the journey through Dolomites in the Italian Alps on the week-long trip.
He said: “I cycle when I’m home so it’s something I do anyway.
“It’s rare I don’t do at least 100, 150 or 200 miles a week if I’m home in Arizona.
“Last week I practised as hard as I could but the week before I did 300 miles with 37,000 feet of climbing.
“We started off in Verona for a couple of days, and went up to Corvara, which is a town in the Dolomites. They were cool climbs.
“It was only 300 miles so it was about 60 or 70 miles a day but doing 8,000 to 9,000 feet of climbing in the day. It pales in comparison to what the boys in the Tour de France do every day. That’s mental.
“Cycling is my release, I don’t think about golf when I’m on the bike.”
