( CNN ) -- Rory McIlroy led an early morning assault by the world 's best golfers on a toothless Hoylake Thursday to claim the first round lead at the British Open with Tiger Woods also making a promising start to his first major of the season . Northern Ireland 's McIlroy carded six birdies in a pretty much flawless first round of six-under 66 on the Royal Liverpool seaside links , missing several other opportunities as he peppered the flags with his approach shots . Warm weather conditions and negligible winds , particularly for morning starters like McIlroy , saw a clutch of stars break 70 , including Woods , who opened with a three-under-par 69 . Playing on his second tournament since late March after back surgery , Woods looked rusty on the front nine as he slipped one over , but a hat-trick of birdies on the back nine saw him finish with a spring in his step . Woods won the British Open in 2006 when it was last held at Hoylake , but has been stuck on 14 major victories since 2008 . McIlroy has two majors to his name , but will be hoping his habit of following up a strong opening with a poor second round will not rear its head again . In the 2010 British Open at St Andrews he led with a 63 and followed it up with an 80 , while at last week 's Scottish Open McIlroy backed up a 64 with a 78 to slip off the pace . `` We had perfect scoring conditions out there this morning . There was n't much wind early on . There were plenty of opportunities to make birdies and I was able to take a few of them , '' he told the official British Open website . `` I 'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow , '' added the 25-year-old former world number one . Matteo Manassero was another young golfer to take advantage of the calm conditions , the 21-year-old chasing McIlroy on five-under after a 67 . Fellow Italians Edoardo and Francesco Molinari were among a group on four-under and Manassero is hoping the challenge will continue . `` We got off to a fast start , all of us . It 's going to be wonderful to have a few Italians up there on Sunday afternoon . It 's going to be fun if there is , '' he said . That group also included Americans Brooks Koepka and veteran Jim Furyk as well as Sergio Garcia of Spain . Garcia , still to win that elusive first major , acknowledged that early conditions were kind . `` Difficult to get a nicer day to play golf than today and if you manage to play well , even better ! ! '' he tweeted . Late on , world number one Adam Scott joined them on 68 , one of the few afternoon starters to make a run at McIlroy as the wind picked up a little , with scores on average three shots higher than the morning players . 2012 winner Ernie Els was among those to struggle , missing two putts from inside a foot on the opening hole for a triple bogey seven and never recovered his composure with a seven-over 79 . Defending champion Phil Mickelson , U.S. Masters champion Bubba Watson and last week 's Scottish Open winner Justin Rose were also affected by the worsening conditions . Mickelson slipped to a two-over 74 after going out of bounds at the last , while Watson tripled bogeyed the 11th on the way to a wayward 76 . Home hope Rose stayed in contention with a level-par 72 -- on a day 49 players broke par .
Rory McIlroy sets early pace at British Open . Cards a six-under 66 at Hoylake . Tiger Woods begins with fine round of 69 . Woods playing his first major of the season .