“You never know…” — McIlroy fires brilliant 66 but trails “inevitable” Scheffler by six at The Open

Rory McIlroy acknowledges the crowd on the sixth green at Royal Portrush. (Photo by Stuart Kerr/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy hopes the home crowd can give him the momentum to chase down a relentless Scottie Scheffler and a dream victory in The 153rd Open, but a scintillating five-under 66 still left him six shots behind the world number one.

Roared on by a 50,000 home crowd at Royal Portrush, the Holywood star birdied three of his first four holes and while he stalled mid-round and bogeyed the 11th, an eagle at the 12th, followed by another birdie at the 15th, gave him hope.

Scheffler was not at his very best but after starting with six pars, he went eagle-birdie at the seventh and eighth, then followed stellar par saves at the 11th and 14th with his third successive birdie two at the 16th en route to a 67 that gave him an four shot lead over China's Haotong Li (69) and five shots to spare over Matt Fitzpatrick (71) on 14-under.

"Look, Scottie Scheffler, he's inevitable, even when he doesn't have his best stuff," said McIlroy, who is tied for fourth with American duo Chris Gotterup (68), Harris English (68) and England's Tyrrell Hatton (68) on eight-under.

"He's become a complete player. He's so good around the greens. He's improved so much with his putter. It's going to be tough to catch him tomorrow if he keeps playing the way he does.

"But if I can get out tomorrow and get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going, hopefully he sees that a couple of groups behind me and you never know.

"I just need to go out and play another really good round of golf tomorrow and see what happens."

McIlroy knows he has a chance, but he will need to drive the ball better, having escaped disaster by inches several times yesterday.

He got off to a magnificent start, rolling in a big breaking 35-footer for birdie at the first and added further birdies at the second and fourth to get to within four of Scheffler's lead.

He was still just four shots behind as he headed down the 11th but made bogey as his approach from the right rough ballooned into the air and went just 114 yards as a lost ball buried under his own killed its flight and popped out at his feet..

Scheffler then sprang to life by making a 10-footer for eagle at the seventh to get to 12-under.

But while McIlroy raised the roof by holing a 56-footer down the slope for an eagle at the 12th, he described as "one of the coolest moments I've ever had on a golf course", Scheffler brushed in a 16-footer for birdie at the eighth.

McIlroy kept the foot down and birdied the 15th from four feet, but as Scheffler got up and down from heavy rough at the 11th, McIlroy had to scramble for par from the banks of the War Hallow at the 16th to remain five behind.

Scheffler then made a 10-footer for par at the 14th and birdied the 16th to extend his lead, but McIlroy felt he gave the crowd what they came to see.

"Yeah, it was incredible," he said. "It was so much fun. I got off to the perfect start, three-under through four… Then, to play those last seven holes at three under, I thought that was a good effort.

"I played well. I rode my luck at times, but it was an incredible atmosphere out there. I feel like I've at least given myself half a chance tomorrow."

Scheffler will have other ideas and after going bogey-free and dropping just three shots so far this week, McIlroy will likely need to go even lower today to have a chance.

As for Shane Lowry, the 2019 champion's nightmare week continued when he was struck by a stomach virus overnight and carded a three-over 74 to end the day on three over.

"I haven't eaten today yet," said Lowry, who admitted he was still "gutted" over the two-stroke penalty that turned a second-round 70 into a 72.

"I tried to get a protein drink down me after eight holes and felt like throwing up all over the place. So yeah, it's been a tough, tough day, but I'm not going to make excuses."

As for the rules incident, he admitted it was a big blow, but he was reluctant to talk about it again.

"To be honest, I'm gutted," said Lowry, who hopes to finish on a high today, take a break and then come back feeling strong for the FedExCup Playoffs and Europe's Ryder Cup defence.

"I wanted to do well so badly today and this week and I put so much into this week that yeah, it's hard to take. I feel like I really could have been there or thereabouts, but that's golf. It doesn't always go your way."