McIlroy and Daly dazzle at St Andrews

The 21-year-old is desperate not to be the only Irishman on Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup team without a major title - he is expected to line up alongside recently-crowned US Open champion Graeme McDowell and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington.

And he is going the right way about avoiding that particular stigma on a course where he has never scored worse than 69 in eight rounds of golf.

McIlroy, who shot 61 as a 16-year-old at his home club Royal Portrush in 2005, has been marked out for greatness for years.

At times McIlroy looked like he owned the Old Course during a stellar round of 63

As the world's number one amateur he sprang to public notice with a strong showing in the 2007 Open at Carnoustie before turning professional.

He was the youngest player to climb into the world's top 50 golfers when he achieved the feat at the end of 2008 and he won his first, though so far only, European Tour event at the age of 19 in Dubai in 2009.

That week he was described as having a better swing than Tiger Woods at the same age by none other than the world number one's mentor Mark O'Meara.

McIlroy also clinched his maiden crown in the United States earlier this year when he shot 62 in the final round at Quail Hollow to become the youngest winner of a PGA Tour event since Woods in 1996.

Crashing out of the recent US Open at halfway after rounds of 75 and 77, he was gently chastised by his close friend McDowell for being still too raw to contend in major golf, despite having finished 10th in the event in 2009 and third in the US PGA two months later.

"Rory plays gung-ho golf. He doesn't put a lot of thought into what he does," said McDowell, the tournament leader at the time and eventual winner.

"He's a young kid, he grips it and rips it. But I would imagine he has not put a lot of thought into this course as regards a game plan."

McIlroy also missed the cut at the Masters in April after finishing 10th on his debut in 2009, and he slunk back to Holywood to lick his wounds, play with his friends and rediscover the fun side of golf.

His victory at Quail Hollow suggests it worked, and he has adopted the same method before the Open - after warming up at home last week, playing at Portrush and Royal County Down, McIlroy employed his carefree attacking game on a benign first morning at St Andrews.

"The course was there for the taking," said McIlroy. He did, though, admit he has never played the Old Course in bad weather and he is likely to encounter his share at some stage this week. Whether McDowell's assessment is still true, only time will tell.

Daly, known for his colourful background as well as his now familiar outrageous legwear, was also granted a chance to rekindle former glories by the kind Old Lady of St Andrews.

The 44-year-old American was wearing the "good luck pants" - a lilac paisley creation - that he has worn to good effect in recent weeks.

"The good thing about all of these pants is you get dressed in the dark, any shirt is going to match," he said.

Daly was one of a number of players to shoot 66, while South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen went one better, but the American has certainly taken the most turbulent route in his life to get there.

Daly, known as 'Wild Thing' in his heyday, has battled weight problems, marital woes, gambling and alcohol addictions and serious financial worries but remains one of the game's most endearing characters.

"I have never run from my mistakes," he stated. "I've screwed up an awful lot, not just on tour but in other aspects of life. It's how you come back and deal with it."

The big hitter, who often sells his own branded merchandise out of his motorhome at events to make money, is often capable of low scoring and will sometimes feature for a round or two before blowing up.

But he has admitted he finds St Andrews, where he won the second of his two major titles 15 years ago, a soothing and inspirational place.

"It's my favourite course all over the world. There's just something so peaceful about it," Daly said, suggesting he should now be known as 'Mild Thing'.

Daly's weight ballooned to almost 20 stone last year, persuading him to have a gastric band fitted. His former tag-line "grip it and rip it" was tweaked to "grip it and sip it". He's now down to about 14 stone and enjoying his new lease of life.

"I'm not drinking, I just can't eat as much of the bad stuff as I used to," he added. "The thing I miss most about having the band put in is I can't drink vitamin D milk. I used to drink half a gallon of that a day. When you used to be as hungover as I was it was great, got rid of everything."

Daly has also suffered from a rib injury in recent years and became disillusioned, announcing earlier this season he was quitting the game.

But he quickly retracted the comments and said after his round on Thursday: "There's not too many players that haven't said it, I was just the idiot that said it on TV. But I love the game too much."

Daly and McIlroy are clearly in love with the Old Course. Whether she will love them back on Friday is another matter.