Will it be another Freaky Friday, or instead Thank God It’s Friday?
Rory McIlroy once again tore up the course from the off at the 143rd Open Championship to take a one-stroke lead at a glorious Hoylake from the other young European prodigy that came in his wake, Italy’s Matteo Manassero.
But too often recently sleeping on a stellar first round has proved Rory’s undoing.
He enters today’s second round and with the weather forecast to bring strong wind and thunderstorms knowing Fridays have somehow become his Kryptonite.
They’re queuing up to take advantage if he falters.
From veteran grinders like Jim Furyk, both of the Molinari brothers, world No 1 Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia, advisably in more sober colours for the week than his infamous canary yellow of eight years ago.
Not far off is Tiger Woods, as “explosive” as he had promised despite a false start.
All of human life is at the Open, and even some inhuman, like the giant octopus someone planted on the roof of the house behind the fifth tee.
Certainly all of golf is there, in the space of one weekend, one day, even one hole.
For example twice champion Ernie Els poleaxed a spectator on the first, and then three-putted from inside two feet, airshotting an over-casual backhander.
Henrik Stenson, furious as he went from one thicket of rough to another at the 17th, snapped his wedge over his knee and then calmly handed both bits to his caddie.
The biggest cheers of the day went to a man who shot five-over 41 for the back nine.
John Singleton, a forklift driver at a local resin factory whose workmates had been given the day off to watch him play in the Open, was still milking the stands at the end.
There were the usual calamities. The current Amateur champion, Bradley Neil, putted into a bunker.
A former Amateur champion, Bryden MacPherson, went to the turn in six-over 41, and promptly lost 12 more strokes in the space of the next five holes.
He parred his way in from there for a 90.
That aside, everyone seemed to think Thursday was pretty scoreable at Hoylake, and as a result Rory’s Terrific Thursdays came into play. The only problem is that today is Friday.
Rory is constantly appraised of his Friday flaws even if he wanted to forget about them. Since the Masters, when he followed his opening 71 with a 77, it’s been a recurring theme.
There was 69-76 at the Wells Fargo, 70-74 at the Players, 68 and then three-over for the front nine at Wentworth before he recovered for a 71, 63-78 at the Memorial, and of course 64-78 last week in the Scottish Open.
That’s 26-under for Thursdays and 24-over for Friday.
“When I play on Thursdays there’s not many expectations,” he pondered. “You’re out there trying to find a rhythm and play your way in.
“On Fridays I’m trying to back up a good score, you know what you can do and there’s more expectations. It might be something like that certainly I’ve followed up good scores before.”
Rory was pretty much faultless on day one, and man enough to admit his good luck when it occurred, most blatantly on the tough 14th when he hooked his tee shot into rough and it took a kindly kick straight back into the fairway.
He even left a couple of early putts in the jaws, and on 18 he missed out on a birdie.
However, he picked up three at the other par fives, as per his strategy aim for the week, and used driver four times, although “with hindsight, it should have been five.”
The advantage with the weather was unquestionably with the earlier starters, who saw the wind get up to protect their scores almost immediately they came off.
Only Scott of the afternoon wave got on the top 12 of the leaderboard for any amount of time.
Such is the luck of the draw on links but the Friday forecast does not offer much hope of equalising the advantage. The earlier starters today will catch the worst of the wind, the later ones will get the predicted electrical storms.
Maybe Hoylake will take her full revenge then.