David Lingmerth’s front nine of just 29 strokes emphasised the benign conditions which formed the backdrop to the Open’s early stages.
There was little breeze at all at St Andrews on Thursday morning, a matter expected to change slightly through the afternoon. Winds are expected to reach 20mph between midday and 6pm.
It is on Friday, though, that things are predicted to take a turn for the worse; forecasts point towards heavy rain for the first few hours of play before gusts of up to 35mph late in the day. Earlier suggestions of 40mph winds, the Met Office says, “look less likely”.
Lingmerth, playing in his first Open, birdied the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th in his stunning run. The Swede’s score matched the record set by Tony Jacklin in 1970.
