HOYLAKE, England -- Rory McIlroy had everything go his way Thursday in the British Open. Bill Mazeroski Jersey . A lovely summer day in England with abundant sunshine and minimal wind allowed him to attack Royal Liverpool. He made half his six birdies on the par 5s and kept bogeys off his card. And on the day Tiger Woods made a promising return, McIlroy took the lead with a 6-under 66, his best score in nearly two years at a major. Now if he can only find a way to get to the weekend. McIlroy either set himself up for a good run at the claret jug or another dose of Friday failures. In what already has been an unusual year for golf, no trend is more mysterious than Boy Wonder going from awesome to awful overnight. Six times in his last eight tournaments, he has had a nine-hole score of 40 or higher on Friday that has taken him out of the mix. "Its not like Ive shot good scores in first rounds and havent backed them up before," McIlroy said. "Im used to doing that. I just havent done it recently. Well see what tomorrow brings and what weather it is and try and handle it as best I can. "Hopefully," he said, "its just one of those things and Im able to turn it around tomorrow." Woods also would like to keep moving in the right direction. He got off to a troubling start with two quick bogeys, nearly made another one on the fourth hole, and then looked like a 14-time major champion when he ran off five birdies in six holes toward the end of his round for a 69. Not bad for guy who had back surgery March 31, who started taking full swings only a month ago and who had not played in a major in 11 months. "It felt good to be back out there competing again," Woods said. Such pristine weather -- how long it lasts is the big unknown -- gave just about everyone a chance to score. Matteo Manassero broke par in The Open for the first time since he was a 16-year-old amateur. He began his round by hitting into a pot bunker, blasting out to the fairway and holing out from 160 yards for birdie. He made five birdies on the back nine, three on the par 5s. That made him low Italian -- barely. Francesco Molinari and Edoardo Molinari have games that are nothing alike, though they shot the same score. They were in a large group at 68 along with Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott. Scott stands out as the No. 1 player in the world, and because he was the only player in the top 10 who played in the afternoon when the wind made Hoylake tougher. Scott went out in 31 and was slowed only by two bogeys on the back nine. Even in tame conditions, the British Open can mete out punishment -- to players, to spectators and even a golf club. Phil Mickelson was trying to get back to even par when he hooked his approach to the 18th beyond the out-of-bounds stakes down the right side of the hole and had to scramble for a bogey and a 74. He hasnt broken par at a major since winning at Muirfield last summer. That still doesnt top the bad day of Ernie Els. His opening tee shot hit a spectator in the face, and the sight of so much blood shook the Big Easy. When he got to the green, he missed a 1-foot putt, and then carelessly tried to back-hand the next one into the hole and missed that one. The triple bogey sent him to a 79. Henrik Stenson knocked a 30-foot birdie putt off the 12th green and made double bogey, and then took two hacks out of the shin-high grass left of the 17th fairway. Walking to his next shot, he snapped his gap wedge over his thigh like a baseball player -- Bo Jackson comes to mind -- who had just struck out with the bases loaded. Through all this activity, two names came to the forefront -- McIlroy and Woods, both trying to restore their games from different circumstances. McIlroys only victory this year was at the BMW PGA Championship, where he started his week by breaking off his engagement with Caroline Wozniacki. He could have had more chances to win except for that 40 on the front nine at Quail Hollow, the 42 on the front nine at The Players Championship and the 43 on the back nine at the Memorial. He met with Jack Nicklaus, and the topic of his freaky Fridays came up. "I didnt mention it to him," McIlroy said. "He mentioned it to me -- How the hell can you shoot 63 and then 78? No, I think what we talked about was just holding a round together. And he was never afraid to make a change in the middle of the round ... to get it back on track." The trick for McIlroy is to not get derailed in the second round. For the year, he is 55-under par in the first round and 15-over par in the second round. Woods gave a light fist pump when he rolled in a 30-foot putt from just off the green on No. 11. He then hit a beautiful approach to 6 feet for birdie on the 12th. That put him under par in a tournament for the first time since March 9, the final round of Doral. OK, the sample size is small -- that was the last tournament he played until returning to Congressional three weeks ago after back surgery. Even so, he was playing with such rhythm late in his round that he might have wanted to keep going. That makes Friday a big day for Woods, too. Drew Hutchison Jersey . Now, Sarah Burkes legacy will live on in Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. Burke, who tragically died at age 29 from a training accident in 2012, headlined the 2014 class named for induction Wednesday. Josh Harrison Jersey . -- Canadian Erik Bedard pitched into the fifth inning in his bid to win a spot in Tampa Bays rotation, helping the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Gerrit-Cole-pirates-jersey/ . According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the deal will pay Schenn $2.25 million in the first year and $2.75 million in the second year. In 82 games with the Flyers in 2013-14, Schenn scored 20 goals and added 21 assists.BATA, Equatorial Guinea - Host Equatorial Guinea made it to the semifinals and a referee only just made it out of the stadium in one piece as the African Cup of Nations descended into angry chaos on Saturday.Equatorial Guinea beat Tunisia 2-1 in extra time to make the last four of the continental championship for the first time, and after being helped in a big way by a hotly-disputed penalty call by the referee in the last minute of normal time.Mauritian referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn was chased by furious Tunisian players, who aimed punches and kicks at him, and only just made it to the safety of the tunnel at the end of the match with a riot police escort.Congo and Republic of Congo had earlier served up a roller-coaster second half in their quarterfinal, with Congo coming back from 2-0 down with four goals in the last 25 minutes to win 4-2 and reach the semis for the first time in 17 years.But the drama of that game was completely outdone by the evenings second quarter at Bata Stadium.With Equatorial Guinea trailing 1-0 and going out of its home tournament, Seechurn awarded it the hugely contentious penalty in the last minute of normal time, when Ivan Bolado appeared to dive to earn the game-changing spot-kick. Javier Balboa slotted in the penalty deep in stoppage time to send the game to extra time, and also curled in a brilliant winning free kick in the 102nd minute.But from the moment the penalty was awarded to deny Tunisia, there was a succession of ugly scenes.Players and coaching staff members clashed near the dugouts, the Tunisian team lost their heads and kicked, tripped and pushed their opponents on the field, and Seechurn had to run for cover at the end, chased by many of Tunisias furious players. The players were battered back by riot police as they also tried to get down the tunnel to the referee.All the while, 35,000 crazed Equatorial Guinea supporters roared and stamped their feet on the metal floors of the stadium to celebrate thheir teams historic progression to the last four. Barry Bonds Jersey. .At the moment, Im the happiest man in the world, Equatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker said.Tunisia coach Georges Leekens — who had angrily faced up to Esteban on the sidelines during some of the numerous melees — said his team was cheated.At the end, its no good for football, he said. Its very difficult to accept.Earlier Saturday at the same stadium, Congo also made it to the semis, but only after defensive lapses had let in Republic of Congos Dore Ferebory for the opener in the 55th minute, and again when Thievy Bifouma swept in a loose ball seven minutes later for a 2-0 lead.It seemed that was that, and Congo goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba yelled furiously at his defenders.Less than 20 minutes later Kidiaba was crying for joy and hugging one of the defenders after his team launched a thrilling comeback. Then, he was bouncing across the field with his renowned bum-shuffle celebration.Congos progress revived memories of a bygone era, when it was champion of Africa in 1968 and 1974 and one of the continents soccer powers. It has only made the semis once since 74.Dieumerci Mbokani began the fight back for the class of 2015 almost straight away, tapping in after being set up by Yannick Bolasie. Loteteka Bokila powered a shot into the roof of the net in the 75th for 2-2. And less than 20 minutes after Republic of Congo had gone 2-0 up, Congo was ahead 3-2 when substitute Joel Kimuaki glanced in a header from a free kick.Republic of Congo had collapsed.All of us coaches all over the world know its not over until its finished, Republic of Congo coach Claude Le Roy said. It was a terrible game.Mbokani made sure with a breakaway for his second in stoppage time, and Congo awaits the winner of Sundays Ivory Coast-Algeria quarterfinal.Equatorial Guinea will face the winner of the other quarterfinal between Ghana and Guinea.___Gerald Imray is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '