As the day wore on, the length of time spent on the course increased and the afternoon groups were the ones which bore the brunt of the delays.
McIlroy was playing alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood and American Justin Thomas, with the group needing four hours just to get through the opening 11 holes.
“That is extraordinary,” said former European Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson, who is working as a BBC Radio 5 Live analyst at Portrush.
“It’s a combination of things – the golf course just holds people up.
“When you’re teeing off at 3:10pm it means the round will be extraordinary long – but it’s one of the challenges of the Open.”
England’s Justin Rose believed the wet and wild conditions – making the Dunluce Links even more treacherous – were the biggest factor.
“It can happen sometimes. It got blustery as the day went on, so it was tricky – there were not many tap-in pars and go,” said Rose, who is two under and was the only player to shoot a bogey-free round.
“There were a lot of five footers, with guys marking and reading putts.
“There was a lot of grinding going on, which does take a while.”
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