Mike Cormack

Rory McIlroy.

Heading into the tournament, a few eyebrows were raised when Ladbrokes.com odds instilled 21-year-old Rory McIlroy as the 17-1 second favourite behind Tiger Woods.

The Northern Ireland phenom's talents are unquestioned, but he has yet to contend for a major title, and St. Andrews, a place where experience is often rewarded, seemed an unlikely venue for a breakthrough.

But after opening with a major championship record-tying 9-under 63 (including a missed three-footer for birdie on 17), the bookies, and McIlroy, are looking good now.

In his young career, McIlroy's form has come and gone, in waves. At Quail Hollow where he closed with weekend rounds of 66-62 for his first PGA Tour victory, the rush of form seemed to come from nowhere after struggling the first two days with rounds of 73-73.

At The Players Championship the next week, McIlroy entered as a favourite, but a suddenly cold putter resulted in a missed cut.

So if recent history is any indication, McIlroy will likely do one of two things on Friday: expand his two-shot lead or come crashing back to the pack.

As for the folks at Ladbrokes? They clearly have faith in the former, installing McIlroy as the current favourite at 4-1, with Woods second at 6-1.

Tiger ready to pounce

Tiger Woods must be thrilled with his opening 67 for a number of reasons.

For starters, it keeps him within shouting distance of McIlroy. Second, he took advantage of the excellent morning scoring conditions to give him some breathing room under par should the weather turn on Friday. Third, when Woods at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005 he also opened strong with rounds of 67 and 66.

Through two rounds on both those occasions, Woods entered the weekend on 11-under par. In other words, if he shoots 66 on Friday the Claret Jug engraver can start warming up the chisel.

Mickelson's Mess

Sure, he went out in the worst of the Thursday conditions, but there's no other way to look at Phil Mickelson's opening round 73 than disastrous.

Lee Westwood, who might overtake Mickelson at No. 2 in the world rankings should he win this week, also went out in the afternoon but managed a tidy 67.

Mickelson's poor record across the pond has been well documented, but we're starting to wonder whether his inability in recent weeks to overtake Woods as world No. 1, is the real reason behind his poor play.

Starting Friday 10 shots in arrears of McIlroy, and six behind Woods, Mickelson's immediate goal will be to make the cut. And according to the forecastfor Friday morning, it looks like he'll have his work cut out for him, with heavy rain and winds predicted.