And that’s it for our first round coverage. An excellent day of golf, not the leader we expected, but hope for tomorrow and the weekend. Join Scott Murray and Dave Tindall in the morning and thanks for reading!
Bryson DeChambeau, by the way, opted to only score to the R&A. He said: “I’m having a lot of fun. If I can keep it going and give the crowd something to cheer for on Sunday, that’s all I can ask for.”
I watched him playing around with two putters after his round so maybe a different flat stick for him tomorrow afternoon.
Rory McIlroy on his opening round of 72: “I’ll start with the positives. I drove the ball incredibly well. I took the golf course on off the tee. Obviously with the positions that I put myself in off the tee, I feel like I obviously should have shot a better score. Played the hard holes well. Birdied 13, 15 and 18 on the back.”
The bad stuff? “The two bogeys on the par-5s weren’t great and I struggled to get the speed of the greens. I felt like they were very inconsistent. Struggled with that early on.”
All in all? “Not too far away. Hopefully we’ll get the better conditions tomorrow and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning. Go out there and shoot a good one and get myself right back in it for the weekend.”
The plan for tonight? “I’m not going to go back to the house and analyze it too much tonight. Again, focus on the positives – drove the ball very, very well, hit some really good shots. I made too many sloppy mistakes and just need to cut those out.”
Unheralded American Jackson Suber grabs the first round lead
All the talk this week has been that links experience would be essential. So what has happened? A man who has played only one and half rounds of links golf leads the championship. His name is not Jackson Superb, but it nearly is.
-5: Suber (F)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Smalley (F), DeChambeau (F), Gerard (F), Daffue (F), Coody (F), Young (F)
Counter to the last post is this thought: Not only did Padraig Harrington recover from T38 in 2008, in 1998 Mark O’Meara was T62 after 18 holes -and he not only opened with a 72 like McIlroy has, he was also the reigning Masters champion as McIlroy is, and he succeeded at Royal Birkdale.
This is interesting. Padraig Harrington was T38 after 18 holes when he won the Open at Royal Birkdale in 2008. But in the 16 Opens since then 14 eventual winners were T9 or better and all 16 were T18 or better. That would indicate that this year’s champion is likely to be currently -2 or better.
Rory McIlroy opens with a 72
A round of +2 is not what he was hoping for to start his campaign to win a second Claret Jug. But all is not lost because the current top three – Jackson Suber, Dan Brown and Sungjae Im – are unproven at elite level.
Rory McIlroy has 4 feet 10 inches for birdie at 18 and a 72. It would be a minor win, but a win none the less. He makes it and offers a sad wave to the galleries. He’s seven shots back of the pace setter, Jackson Suber. But guess what? Mark O’Meara - like McIlroy this year the reigning – Masters champion, was seven shots back after 18 holes when he won at Royal Birkdale in 1998.
Shane Lowry on his opening round of 69: “Score-wise, I’m pretty happy with that. The wind switch in the afternoon made the course play a little more difficult. It was important I didn’t get caught leaderboard watching and see what the leader guys were doing. Hopefully we’re going to get that nice easterly wind that they had tomorrow morning.”
On the conditions: “I pity the guys that have never played links golf coming here. You’re hitting 4-irons off tees, and they’re going over 300 yards. Sometimes it’s hard to mentally and visually see that.”
Rory McIlroy launches a superb approach to 18. The pin is tucked beheind the two bunkers front left. It’s the Seve pin from the final round in 1976. McIlroy, implausibly, takes a similar angle and the ball lands softly between the two traps before running down close to the hole. McIlroy waves to crowds but looks more than a little rueful.
Rory McIlroy finds the first cut of rough from the 18th tee. Not long to go now in what has become a damp squib of a round. A big sigh from McIlroy. His only hope might be that the main contenders are, with the exception of Bryson DeChambeau and the veteran Francesco Molinari, not major championship winners (yet).
-5: Suber (F)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Smalley (F), DeChambeau (F), Gerard (F), Daffue (F), Coody (F), Young (F)
Read Ewan Murray on Dan Brown – the son of a pig farmer whose smoking habit might be banned by the weekend if conditions remain as they are.
It’s been a little tougher this afternoon that this morning. The AM starters averaged 71.00 and the PM starters currently average 71.64. One of the latter is Rory McIlroy and he’s currently adding to that mean score. He doesn’t find the par at 17 and is now +3 for the round. Not the day he was hoping for.
How did Tommy Fleetwood fare in the first round? Andy Bull reports.
A trick shot is required from Rory McIlroy on 17. He was on one knee when he played his fourth from the greenside bunker. It’s a good shot but leaves him 6 feet for par.
Up at 18 Shane Lowry completes a par at 18 and a round of 69.
Read Sean Ingle on Mateo Pulcini – the only Argentinian in the Open field who imitated his nation’s footballing celebrations after sinking a 40-foot putt on 18.
Rory McIlroy’s second shot at 17 has found just about the only green grass in the North-West of England. Perhaps that explains why his third shot has airmailed the green and found a bunker. “Knifed it,” says Wayne Riley on TV. “Is this Rory McIlroy or an imposter?”
Kristoffer Reitan on the conditions after his 69: “I hit my 3-iron about 320 yards on 17. So it was difficult at some points, but I’ve got a good caddie on my bag.”
Rory McIlroy unpacked an OK drive at 17 and now has 194 yards to the green. He changes club and then … unleashes a horrid hook. Marshals and fans scatter. One fellow stumbles away, less because he’s taken a blow, more because he’s so eager to avoid one. Messy. Again.
No scrambled par for Morikawa at 18. He slips to -2. A frustrating end to the day but a decent effort from the 2021 champion whose links land efforts since his triumph have mostly been underwhelming.
A lovely scene at 18. The sun is dipping low over the hospitality units to the left, the grandstands and the famous clubhouse frame the green. Collin Morikawa’s drive has found rough and his second shot is straight but a scuffler. It pulls up short. He’ll need and up and down to stay -3.
No eagle for Shane Lowry at 17. He had a funny putt that had to rise above a shoulder and then drop towards the hole. It pulls up short. But a nice birdie gets him to -1.
Behind, Rory McIlroy has 11 feet for birdie at 16. A nice putt but it slides by. He remains +2.
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Norway’s Kristoffer Reitain made a birdie at 9 and parred every other hole. A first round 69 is a great start and he has a bit of form on links golf. He was T13 at Renaissance last year, T3 at Trump Aberdeen and T5 in the Dunhill Links Championship.
Collin Morikawa was greenside in two blows at the par-5 17th. But he can’t get up and down for birdie. The 2021 Open champion remains -3 with 18 to play. Cameron Young is on the same score, but he has 17 to come.
On that very hole Shane Lowry unleashes a fairway wood from the short grass and gives himself about 25 feet for eagle.
Superb timing from me. You praise a golfer and what happens? He makes bogey. Sorry Xander Schauffele. Back to -1 after 15.
Rory McIlroy’s tee shot at 15 was excellent and he has 15 feet for birdie – and in it pops! A bit of a daft round really. But also classic McIlroy who often makes the impossible look simple and the simple look impossible. Good energy from the galleries. Maybe it can prompt a late revival. A bit of bounce in the step – another classic McIlroy trait, of course.
In striking contrast to his playing partner, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schaufelle is -2. It’s classic Schauffele. He just remains a remarkable accumulator of major championship quality finishes with 29 top 20s in 27 starts. His method? “Keep grinding,” he said at the US Open last month. “Just keep grinding and move on.”
A Shane Lowry birdie at 16 gets him back to level-par with the par-5 17th to come.
Andrew Coltart is suggesting that Rory McIlroy should throw a club to get his blood pumping. Coltart might have forgotten there is a new code of conduct in operation. Laura Davies wonders if hitting a caddie counts.
It gets worse for Rory McIlroy at 14. Wayne Riley talks him up again, but the chip, which needs to negotiate a rise, only just goes far enough. The Northern Irishman now has 22 feet for par. It’s all very messy.
The par putt misses and this is turning into an irritating day. He even stands away from he bogey putt, rattled by a gallery noise. He does make it, however.
He’s now eight shots off the pace and was six shots off it after 18 holes when the Open was last at Royal Birkdale in 2017. That time he rebounded to finish fourth, but McIlroy now wants to add wins to his major championship tallies not top fives.
The 14th is not going well for Rory McIlroy. From the rough he found a plugged lie in a bunker 83 yards short of the green. He thrashed the ball out, clipping the rivetted edge, and the ball has slipped over the back. His birdie attempt exists – but from 17 yards in the semi rough.
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Tom Kim has opened with a level-par 70 after a bogey at 18. “I did well,” he said afterwards. “It’s a major championship, so the golf course is going to be tough. Obviously the wind in the afternoon is blowing. I felt like I did a pretty good job, low stress. Just a few more birdies would have been nice, but overall, it’s a decent start.”
And here are the scores on the doors:
-5: Suber (F)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Smalley (F), DeChambeau (F), Gerard (F), Daffue (F), Coody (F), Morikawa (15), Young (13)
As things stand, two Americans are most like to change matters at the top of the leaderboard. Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young are both -3 through 15 and 13 holes respectively. A big 90 minutes for both.
Friend of the leader and fellow traveller (see 19.09), Pierceson Coody, has had a good day, too. He has made a bogey at 18, but a 67 is a strong start to the week.
Yikes. Rory McIlroy has stopped missing short putts and now Shane Lowry has taken up the (very much unwanted) baton. He’s four putted 14 – and three of them were from 9 feet. The prospect of an eagle to a bogey in the blink (or four) of an eye.
McIlroy’s drive at the same hole has found the rough.
Jackson Suber might be new to Europe, but he’s enjoying it. “The golf is really cool, and just the towns, how the train system works. We went into Liverpool the other day with my fiance and Pierceson Coody and his wife, so that was really cool to see a European city and enjoy that.”
What about the course? “I watched a YouTube video on every hole at Birkdale on Friday last week.”
The great Walter Hagen would appreciate the former sentiment, but be bewildered by the latter. Warning to Jackson for Friday, by the way – there’s the threat of a rail strike.
Tremendous stuff from surprise first round leader Jackson Suber: “This is my fifth day here. Monday was my first round of links golf, so I’ve played 27 holes before I played the first round today. I’ve never been to Europe.”
Good news Rory McIlroy fans! He has 24 feet for birdie at 13 … and he makes it. A shake of the head for the man himself, but he’ll want to keep his head focussed because he has two par-5s to come. He’s now +2 for the day and has a chance to card 70 – or maybe better? An outside chance of the latter.
Matt Fitzpatrick is +1 through 12 and grinding. In recent years he’s revealed himself as something of a comedy straight man to his wife Katherine. In many of her social media videos she’s goofing about and Matt remains totally unmoved (for effect, I add). They’re a highly unlikely golfing Morecambe and Wise act.
Last week’s winner of the Scottish Open, Korea’s Tom Kim, is level-par through 16 holes and he has crashed two blows down the par-5 17th to 10 feet. Can he make an eagle-3? Alas, no. But a birdie gets him into red numbers and would represent a good start off last week’s drama.
Rory McIlroy leaves himself 4 feet 9 inches at 12 for par. It’s right in his … what’s the opposite of a sweet spot?! But he makes it. Hopefully that knocks the bad vibes into shape and he can tidy up this card over the next 90 minutes.
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Another missed green for Rory McIlroy at the par-3 12th. He’s found only seven of 12 greens in regulation today and that fits with the last Open visit to Royal Birkdale, in 2017. That year the Northern Irishman recorded his worst GIR ranking in any Open where he made the cut.
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Shane Lowry is ticking along nicely through 12 on -2. But he has 20 feet for par at 13 and it just slips by the hole. Frustration for the Irishman, but he’s in a good position with the two par-5s to come.
More Rory McIlroy problems at 11. His drive finds the rough, his approach misses the green, his chip leaves 9 feet for par, the putt never looks like finding the target, it’s always on the low side – bogey. He’s now +3 and needs a strong evening if he wants to be a contender this week.
Let’s repeat those Rory McIlroy woes in nasty detail.
He’s missed from:
3 feet 9 inches at 7
3 feet 8 inches at 8
And 4 feet 1 inch at 10
Ouch.
A chip in for an eagle-3 for Harry Hall at 17. He doesn’t smile though. He’s +7 with one hole to play.
Oh dear. Up at 10, Rory McIlroy putted up to the hole side and has missed ANOTHER short putt. This one from 4 feet. He’s not happy and chunters away, staring at the green as if it’s to blame.
Jackson Suber sets new clubhouse target
He had 20 feet for birdie at 18 but it dribbles to the hole. Nothing wrong with a 65, though. He’s the new leader on -5 and there’s a good chance he’ll go to bed still there, quite possibly on his own.
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Thanks Scott. Wayne Riley has faith in Rory McIlroy. “He can still get into red numbers,” he says. From the thick rough down the left of 10 the Northern Irishman thrashes the ball to the green’s edge. Riley’s love of McIlroy can sometimes be a little overblown because he sets his hero up to fail. It would be a lovely end to the day if he was on the money, however. We need a little bit of late energy.
… and with that, I’ll hand you back over to Matt Cooper. See you tomorrow.
-5: Suber (17)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry ()F, MacIntyre (F), Molinari (F), Smalley (F), DeChambeau (F), Gerard (F), Daffue (F), Coody (14) Morikawa (12)
Collin Morikawa’s hot streak comes to an end. He loses his drive at 11 to the left, after which he’s always out of position. He nearly rakes in a 25-footer to salvage par, but offers a wry smile as the putt refuses to drop. Back to -3.
Rory McIlroy, by now positively fuming, opens his shoulders on the 9th tee box and works a few things out. He blooters his drive at the 414-yard par-four onto the green, pin high, having taken on the large area of rough jutting in from the right at this slight dogleg. That is absurd. He’s left with a 58-footer for his eagle, and having missed two short ones in a row, the narrative dictates that he drains it. But we’re asking too much. He cradles it up to a couple of feet, and there’s no missing this one. Birdie and he’s back to +1. Meanwhile Xander Schauffele walks in a 20-footer for birdie of his own, and he turns in 33. He’s -1.
“After making one of the longest putts of the first day, a snaking 40-footer at the last, the only Argentinian in this year’s Open field embarked on a decidedly risky celebration.” Here’s Sean Ingle on amateur Mateo Pulcini’s cheeky back-and-forth with the Birkdale gallery.
Some serious movement at the top of the leaderboard. Collin Morikawa makes his fifth birdie of the day and his second in a row, at 10, to join the leaders at -4. But then they’re all leapfrogged by 26-year-old Open debutant Jackson Suber, who made it here thanks to his top-four finish at the Canadian Open. He sends his second at the par-five 17th from 231 yards to six feet, and that’s an eagle … and sole ownership of the lead!
-5: Suber (17)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F), Morikawa (10)
Before Rory can tidy up for his birdie, Xander Schauffele faces a 65-foot lag across 8. Well, 65 feet and seven inches, to be precise. The 2024 champ rolls his putt, a right-to-left slider, 65 feet and six-and-a-half inches to the hole. A majestic effort that really deserved to topple in … but it did not. He remains level par after a very steady string of pars. Then McIlroy, who had just missed one short putt, does the same thing again. Too much to the right, and it slingshots out. His jaw drops in disbelief. Mouth agape, stunned. The crowd gasp too. That was awful. He stays at +2 and is not feeling particularly chipper right now.
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Rory decides enough is enough. Having crashed his tee shot at 8 down the right-hand side of the fairway, he wedges from 85 yards to a couple of feet. That’s got the gallery going; will it get the Masters champion going too?
No, it’s really not happening for Rory McIlroy. He doesn’t hit the smoothest putt from the back of 7. A big bobble that takes the ball off to the right. He’s left with a three-footer he should clean up, but misses to the right. The ball took a look in, and thought about dropping, but stayed up. Pace the killer. That’s also the case for his playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick, who looked to have saved his par with an adroit splash out from deep sand at the front of the green, then needlessly rammed the short putt that remained past the hole. A little tickle was all it required. That follows bogey at 6, which was the result of coming up short of the green and toppling back down the false front, and both Fitzpatrick and McIlroy are +2.
The 2021 champion Collin Morikawa joins the big group at -3 with birdie at 9. Having opened with bogey, he’s since carded birdies at 2, 5, 6 and now 9. Out in 31. After spending some time in the doldrums, the 29-year-old Californian won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February, his first win on the PGA Tour in two-and-a-half years. Having thus cleared the pipes, he’s since finished in a tie for seventh at the Masters, and in the top 20 at last month’s US Open. A second Claret Jug and third major would be some way to complete the comeback. He’s -3.
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It’s not really happening for Rory McIlroy yet. A string of six fours. He’s +1. He could do with getting one close at the par-three 7th, but the pin’s tucked front right and with the wind picking up, it’s not really worth taking it on. He sends his tee shot to the back of the green, repeatedly shouting SIT! as the ball threatens to topple off down a swale. It stops just in time, then Rory says the word again in discussion with his caddie, but with one additional consonant.
Time is nobody’s friend in the end. The 2008 winner here, Padraig Harrington, is suffering a bit of a nightmare. Opening with a double bogey, he’s since dropped five more strokes, the latest at 13. He’s +7 and on course to take over from 2019 US Open champion Gary Woodland (+8, but finished for the day) in propping up the entire leaderboard. Two wonderful golfers getting beaten up a wee bit today, and in what are predicted to be the best conditions of the week. Three-and-a-half more days of fun coming up!
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The 37-year-old South African MJ Daffue is playing in his first Open, having qualified at Royal Cinque Ports by shooting 67-65. He’s grabbing his long-awaited chance with both hands: out in 32, then back in 35. Up and over the Rose-Seve bunkers guarding the front left of 18 for a doughty par save. A 67 and he’s -3, just a shot shy of the lead. Meanwhile speaking of Royal Cinque Ports, a course once on the Open rota … may I direct you to entry number two, and hats off for sticking it to The Man, dear Sir.
Rory McIlroy takes driver on the drivable par-four 5th. This tee shot’s wide left this time … but he’s able to whip up from the bottom of a swale to eight feet. He looks to have made the birdie putt, but his ball slides off to the right, and the misread costs him his birdie. He remains at +1. Pars also for his playing partners Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele, who opted to lay up but failed to wedge close. It’s a fun risk-and-reward hole, the 5th.
Rory McIlroy’s tee shot into the par-three 4th lands short and right, at the bottom of a depression. That one qualifies as a wide. He’s a bit heavy-handed with the chip up, and he can’t make the 15-footer coming back. He’s +1 and this isn’t an ideal start to his week … though he’s had worse at this place, five over par after six holes in 2017, and he bounced back to finish in a tie for fourth. Some interesting experience to draw on there, then.
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The new US Open champ Wyndham Clark drops another shot, this time at 4. A short putt carelessly missed. He did that a couple of times on the final day at Shinnecock, but got away with it. Meanwhile up on 5, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka take turns to splash aggressively, and yet so delicately, out of a deep greenside bunker. Koepka practically to kick-in distance, so that’s a bounceback birdie that brings him to level par. Lowry is only four feet away, but his putt somehow horseshoes out. He tidies up for par with a mild air of frustration. He remains -1.
Ryan Gerard is back in the hutch with an impressive three-under round of 67. That means everyone at the top of the leaderboard has completed their day’s work. We wait for one of the later starters to make a break from the pack.
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), Molinari (F), Smalley (F), DeChambeau (F), Gerard (F)
For a player with his talent – and one who played plenty of European golf in his early years – Brooks Koepka has an underwhelming record at the Open. A tie for fourth at Portrush in 2019 is his best return, and that was mainly memorable for the glacial JB Holmes getting on the end of his tit. Sadly no fast start for the five-time major winning 36-year-old: bogey at the par-three 4th and he slips to +1.
It’s been a par-par start for Rory McIlroy. A slightly disappointing wedge into 2 from the centre of the fairway, and he can’t make the putt. But over on 3, his compatriot and friend Shane Lowry rolls one in from downtown to card his first birdie of the week.
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Tommy Fleetwood gets honest on Sky Sports. “I played awful … my iron play was non-existent … it’s a really good round of battling … I made life difficult for myself … so I’m really happy with one under … you can play great and not shoot that … it is actually a really good start … I played so good Tuesday and Wednesday! … hopefully I can do some nice practice now! … no matter where I finish, this is a dream come true … [the home support] is really, really special and I’m so grateful to everybody.”
A staunch par for Tommy Fleetwood up the last. Up and down from over Rose’s Bunker, and after struggling for most of the round, birdies at 15 and 17 have salvaged a round in the red. A 69 and the local favourite will be very happy with his work, because despite all his experience, he’ll have been feeling the nerves today. He nearly succumbed to them; instead, he conquered them. He’s -1.
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Hatton’s playing partners also suffer different sorts of disappointment at the end of their round. Scottie Scheffler’s long birdie attempt, up and over a ridge, stops one dimple short of dropping, and after flying out of the gate with four birdies in the first six holes, the world number one couldn’t find another. That’s as close as he’s come, and after bogeys at 7 and 17, he puts his name to a decent but in the circumstances underwhelming 68. It’s still not quite clicking for Scottie. Watch out field when the putts start to drop again. And it’s a bogey for Bryson DeChambeau, who fails to get up and down from the swale at the back of 18. He topples back to -3 and out of a share of the lead.
At the moment, Ryo Hisatsune is the only player back in the clubhouse with a bogey-free card. Birdies at 10 and 15, and the young Japanese star signs for a two-under 68. Tyrrell Hatton would have matched that feat, had he not made a hames of the final hole. A bogey five, the result of finding a bunker with his tee shot, and that’s a 69.
No, is the short answer. Clark’s splash out from sand goes over the back of 1, and he takes two to get down. An opening bogey. Meanwhile over on 18, a closing par for 1998’s young hero, Justin Rose. Now not so youthful, he trudges off dolefully as he signs for a very disappointing opening round of 75. A tie for fourth as low amateur that famous holing-out year, followed by ties for second in 2018 and 2024 … and the Claret Jug is still tantalisingly beyond his reach.
It’s Rory McIlroy’s turn to tee it up … and cracks a fairway wood down the left side of the 1st fairway. His playing partners Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick are both in good nick as well. Up the hole, though, there’s a bit of trouble afoot for the double US Open champion, Popularity’s Wyndham Clark. Having tugged his opening tee shot towards thick rubbish down the left, he gets the benefit of a free drop as he’d have been taking his stance near a metal drain cover, but it’s still not an ideal route into the green. And he can only punch out low, his ball scampering into a pot bunker. His scrambling was little short of genius at Shinnecock last month … can he dig himself out of more bother here?
Scheffler doesn’t make that par putt, though. A careless pull, not his first of the day either. And that’s a bogey. Scheffler’s flat stick has betrayed him quite a few times this calendar year, the small margins between two major titles in 2025 and possibly none in 2026. It should still be noted that he finished second at this year’s Masters, tied for fourth at last month’s US Open, and could still retain his title at Birkdale, just like Padraig Harrington did back in 2008. But for now, he’s -2 … and that’s two shots behind his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, who finds the green in two, and two putts later walks off with birdie. Bryson at the top!
-4: Im (F), Brown (F), DeChambeau (17)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), Molinari (F), Smalley (F), Gerard (15), Daffue (13), Canter (12)
Scheffler is knee deep in rough. It’s all he can do to hack out … and the ball flies off straight left, across the fairway and up a hillock on the other side. But Scottie’s not one to panic, and bumps his chip down into the front of the green, using the camber to bring his ball around to four feet. He’ll have a good chance to save his par.
Trouble for Scottie Scheffler as well. Having split the fairway at the par-five 17th, he carves his second towards a hillock on the right with very thick rough atop it. He’ll be praying for a get-out-of-jail lie.
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Trouble for Ryan Gerard on the new par-three 15th. His tee shot bounds off down a huge swale to the right of the green, a good 40 yards wide, and he can’t get close with his chip back up. He relinquishes his share of the lead, the bogey taking him back to -3.
Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau make easy work of the shortened par-four 16th. Birdies for both, and the USA’s big hitters are setting up camp near the top of this revised leaderboard. Meanwhile their compatriot Ryan Gerard walks in a 15-footer on 14 to join Im Sung-jae and Daniel Brown at the very top. Gerard is from Raleigh, North Carolina while Alex Smalley is from nearby Greensboro: the Tar Heel state is well represented right now on Merseyside.
-4: Im (F), Brown (F), Gerard (14)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), Molinari (F), Smalley (F), Scheffler (16), DeChambeau (!6), Taylor (14), McNealy (14), Daffue (13)
Tommy Fleetwood, the local hero carrying the hopes and dreams of the gallery on his shoulders, suddenly wears his load a bit more lightly. He steers his tee shot at the new par-three 15th to 13 feet, and tickles in the left-to-right curler. The birdie brings him back to level par, and the smile is as wide as the roar is loud.
The minor miracle doesn’t happen for Alex Smalley. His bogey putt rolls past the right of the cup, and that’s a double to finish. Instead of sole ownership of the lead, he’s now back in the peloton. But this year’s PGA Championship runner-up from Greensboro, NC would have taken his 67 at the start of the day. He’s -3.
Thanks Matt … and hats off to Alex Smalley, who having hoicked his tee shot at 18 out of bounds, stripes his reload and then cracks the next shot from 211 yards to 12 feet. If he gets out of Dodge with a bogey, he’ll be whistling and heel-clicking all the way to the Art Deco clubhouse.
Time to hand back to Scott Murray. The leaderboard currently looks like this, but not for long, I suspect. Smalley going down, Scottie going up? Over to you, Scott!
-5: Smalley (17)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Scheffler (15), N. Taylor (13), Gerard (13)
It’s all very chaotic on 18. TV are playing slo-mo footage of what happened to Smalley’s first tee shot, and he and his caddie even peer across at where it went before he hits his fourth shot from the fairway.
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Ignore my last entry! The scoring on the leaderboard was errant and Smalley needed to take three off the tee. He’s therefore in even worse trouble. He needs to get up and down from 211 yards to make bogey.
There’s been trouble for Alex Smalley on 18. His tee shot flirted with out of bounds, but he was able to hack the ball onto the fairway. But he’s fighting for par and the solo lead.
The new par-3 15th hole will be the subject of plenty of debate this week. But, aside from how it plays, it features two very modern Open structures. Behind the tee, is a viewing platforms what allows fans to stand with a fine view of the action (and is easy enough to get on and off). Meanwhile, behind the green, there is a three-tier hospitality unit. Not quite so easy to get in and out of …
Bryson DeChambeau makes a mess of the par-5 14th. His new, straighter driver (see 13:52) missed the fairway. He hacked out, found the green in three blows, and then needed three putts to find the bottom of the flag. He slips back to -2.
Tommy Fleetwood, in the next group, finds the green in three but he’s not in birdie territory and still +1.
China’s Haotong Li has made a great start with birdies at 2 and 3. He made his Open debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017, closing the week with a 63 for T3. He also played in the final round with Scheffler last year when T4. He was even a brief contender at Augusta National this April (when T7 after 54 holes). He’s wild but well capable of very fine golf.
Alex Smalley tidies up a par-5 at 17 and still leads on -5.
Robert MacIntyre holed 126.7 feet of putts today which is currently the leading total for finishers. Matthew Southgate ranks second with 116.6 feet. Both of them went under-par, of course, unlike Gary Woodland who had to hole 114.8 feet to shoot 78 which currently has him bottom of the leaderboard. Ouch.
Jon Rahm has been arrow straight from tee to green today. He’s -2 through 13 holes and he has found all 13 greens in regulation. He hasn’t broken 70 on an Open Thursday since 2019 but is on track to end that run.
Alex Smalley’s 249-yard approach to the par-5 17th is wonky. He goes left and it’s unclear if he has found long grass or a bunker.
The weather forecast, by the way, is good and indicates that the afternoon starters are not going to be inconvenienced by anything other than a breeze.
TV’s Tim Barter reveals that Bryson DeChambeau put a new driver in play this week. It needed four tweaks before he was happy with it. He kept wanting it to go straighter. They achieved this by adding loft.
Justin Rose opened his round with a birdie-3 this morning but that was just about the last of the good news. He’s added six bogeys since and just one more par breaker. He’s +5 through 14 holes and his T4 on debut as a 16-year-old in 1998 must seem a long, long time ago. Even for golf’s Peter Pan.
He turns 46 later this month. Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters just after turning 46. That doesn’t really seem to tally.
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There is talk of the wind getting up this afternoon, but there’s little sign of it currently. Home hero Tommy Fleetwod has slipped to +1 and a birdie putt at 13 pulls up just short of the hole. Cries of support from the galleries, but not of the raucous kind. A quite grimace of frustration from Fleetwood. A knee bend from playing partner Jon Rahm after his putt refuses to drop. He’s currently -2.
-5: Smalley (16)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Scheffler (13), DeChambeau (13), N. Taylor (12), Gerard (11)
The 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari has opened with a 67. He’s not getting carried away though. “ I think we got sort of benign conditions this morning, very little wind,” he said. “I’ve been around long enough to know this is a long way to go.”
“Who is Alex Smalley?” you might be wondering. He’s a six-time top-three finisher on the PGA Tour, but he’s yet to win. He led by two after 54 holes in May’s PGA Championship and didn’t give it away in the final round – he was one among many who was bested by Aaron Rai’s brilliance.
Alex Smalley’s day keeps getting better. The 205-yard par-3 15th is supposed to be tough. He knocks his tee shot to 6 feet and drains the putt for a birdie. He’s -5 and clear of the field.
Wasn’t this fiery course supposed to be a tricky test?!?
The American Alex Smalley has joined the leaders on -4. He tied the first round lead in the PGA Championship in May so he knows about pace-setting. He’s got four holes to play and every chance of pinching the solo lead.
His compatriot Ryan Gerard has made the turn in -4 and started the back nine with a par. We’ve got very British links conditions and two Americans loving it.
Robert MacIntyre was asked about getting irritated with a drone on the 1st tee this morning. “Aye,” he said. “I could hear it coming in, and I’m like, please, just keep flipping over the top of me, and it just sat above me. Then they announced me on the tee, and I was like, I’m not hitting until that drone is out of the way. I don’t know who spoke to it, but someone did.”
And he said of the course: “I knew from the practice days this was going to be a real test of my patience, real test of my mind, and I thought I done a great job.”
Conditions here are very dry and very hot. The fire risk is significant. So Dan Brown was asked about his own fondness for smoking. It made for an interesting chat.
Q: Are you allowed to smoke?
A: I’ve been making sure that they’re out.
Q. So you’re still managing to have a smoke?
A: Yeah. Hopefully for the rest of the week. There might be a big dropoff by Sunday if I’m not allowed.
Q. How many have you had today?
A: Sorry, mom. I’m probably on like seven or eight a round, I would say. My dad actually used to smoke, and I always told him when I was a kid to stop smoking and then he did stop and then I ended up starting.
Earlier today the Englishman Matthew Southgate posted a -1 69. It was neat start for the man who was T6 here in 2017 and also a winner on the HotelPlanner Tour this season. He has veteran caddie Billy Foster on the bag this week. Myself and my colleague Dave Tindall bumped into him last night. He’s attended every Open since 1975 as either a fan or caddie (even when he did his cruciate ligament in the 2010s he attended a as a fan).
Bryson DeChambeau narrowly misses making a birdie at 11. He remains -3 and is on track to make his first cut in a major in 2026. Last year he made a dreadful start at Royal Portrush and then raced through the field. Asked if he now understood links golf he was cautious. “Look, it has been fair conditions the past few days,” he said. “I still have to crack the code when it’s raining and windy. But I feel like we’re getting close to some solutions.” He’s using today’s fair conditions well. Will we see any wind, though? Maybe later.
This week would also be the ideal time for Tommy Fleetwood to break a run of 10 major championships since he last recorded a top 10 finish. But a bogey at 10 drags him back to level-par for the round. He has time to post a good number, though, even if he looks a little down. A lot of emotional pressure to ride or deal with this week for the Southport man.
Jon Rahm has hit a shocker off the tee at 10. The hole is a dogleg 374-yard par-4. But take the dog leg on and it’s much shorter. The Spaniard has contrived to neither lay up short on the fairway or get anywhere near the green. He’s also partially behind a huge TV screen. But his thrash from the tall grass and sand finds the putting surface. He’s currently -1.
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Bob MacIntyre reveals that “the wee man” is keeping his mind off the golf course when he is quite literally off the course. “Honestly, looking after him with Shannon (his partner), it takes my mind off golf. I won’t think about it when I’m with them.” A new (not very) secret weapon?
The big television screens in the media centre show scenes from the galleries including four men wearing Rory McIlroy face masks. There’s something quite creepy about them. The man himself is out at 3.15pm.
Scotsman Jack McDonald has made a flying start. He qualified at Dundonald Links and is currently taking his PGA coaching exams but this is a second Open start in three years. He cancelled playing a pro-am this weekend after qualifying!
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), Smalley (13), Scheffler (9), N. Taylor (8), McDonald (5)
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The leaders, Sungjae Im and Dan Brown, are not threatening to break par at 18. In fact the first seven groups have made eight bogeys and just one birdie so the final hole is playing hard. They both complete their 4s and have reset the clubhouse target at -4 66.
Will Alex Fitzpatrick be correct in expecting those scores to be bettered? Time will tell, but lunch is going to taste good for Im and Brown.
Alex Fitzpatrick after opening his account with a -1 69: “I would see someone shooting -5 or -6 today would be my opinion. Just depends if the wind gets up. If the wind doesn’t, then -5 or -6 might be the best score today.”
The Aussie Cameron Smith starts his round with a pulled tee shot into sand. Not a bunker. It’s on one the many sandy footpaths among the dunes. I was walking down there yesterday and they are like the sandy paths you take through to the beach. Smith’s last four Open scores read: 80-74-72-78.
Playing partner Keith Michell follows him into the fine sand. In contrast, Amateur champion Stuart Grehan thrashes a drive down the fairway and it bounds towards the hole, finally settling in the first cut.
Dan Brown has followed Sungjae Im in for birdie at 17. He joins the Korean on -4 for the round. It’s a revival of Royal Troon two years ago because they both finished top 10 that week – and, as mentioned earlier, Brown set the pace with a solo first round lead.
Sungjae Im has never gone sub-70 in an Open round before the weekend. That’s set to change today on his sixth start. He’s -4 through 17 and one hole from setting a new clubhouse target. The Korean has an Open best finish of T7 at Royal Troon in 2024.
Scottie Scheffler on 8 – he has 20 feet for birdie at the par-4. It’s a good putt, but always low of the hole. A safe par and his solid start to the defence of the Claret Jug continues.
Then Robert MacIntyre completes par at 18 and a round of -3 67 to join Thomas Detry with the clubhouse lead.
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It’s not just the fairways that are bone hard with very little resistance. The rough is very dry, too, and Bryson DeChambeau finds it from the tee on 8, but the ball scuttles through the long grass and emerges on shorter grass.
The par-3 7th trips up Scottie Scheffler when he misses the green so he falls back into the big group sharing the lead on -3.
Clubhouse leader Thomas Detry on conditions this morning. “It’s really going a long way. Have to be very defensive on some of the downhill holes. If you hit a 4-iron a little bit strong and takes a firm bounce, it can roll 300 yards. The bunkers are always in play. Those are the little things to be sort of aware of. Got to try to keep it on the right side of the hole.”
Paul McGinley irritates a few TV viewers on TV commentary. I’m a big fan because I love how he lets us in on what he thinks are secrets – but which aren’t secrets at all. It doesn’t, for example, seem to have dawned on him that we all know about stats in golf. I imagine if you told him that you needed to get up early he’d be thrilled to let you know that he’d discovered the alarm clock. “It’s great. You set it for the time you want to wake up. Brilliant!”
Royal Birkdale GC member Matthew Baldwin hit the opening blow of today’s first round. “An incredible feeling,” he said. “It was terrifying. It was overwhelming. But it’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.” He missed the England World Cup match last night because he set the alarm clock for 3.30 am, but woke at midnight when his wife told him the bad news.
Robert MacIntyre makes par at 17. A messy one after finding sand neat the green, but no harm done.
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Tommy Fleetwood is under-par! It’s taken a while but a 12-foot left-to-right birdie putt drops at the short par-4 5th. The galleries are delighted. “Oooohh, they want it so bad for him,” says TV’s Nick Dougherty.
A house near that green has built a platform to view the golf at the bottom of the garden. It’s wonderfully situated, as the property experts would put it. Alas, the R&A have placed a big TV screen/scoreboard between the platform and the green. Cunning? Or cruel?
Robert MacIntyre’s approach to the par-5 17th has failed to find the green – it’s in sand or maybe in high grass among gthe dunes.
And Scottie Scheffler is the new solo leader: birdie at 6. He’s making a great start and the flat stick is on fire.
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Robert MacIntyre has made hard work of 16 after finding the fairway. The Scot’s approach found the green, but left him 60 feet for birdie and he now has 7 feet for par having bolted the the putt. A momentum maintainer if he drains it, a blow if he misses. But in it goes! The par-5 17th to come and hopes of setting a new clubhouse target.
Scottie Scheffler has joined the leaders on -3. A chip and a putt at the short par-4 5th and he’s resembling the golfer who won last year’s Open – and not the one who missed the cut last week at the Renaissance Club.
Canada’s Nick Taylor has made a fast start with a trio of birdies. The latest scores at the top of the leaderboard:
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (15), Smalley (8), N. Taylor (3)
-2: Im (13), Brown (13), Hovland (6), Scheffler (4), DeChambeau (4), Gerard (3)
The 2001 Open champion David Duval is level-par through 13 holes today. It’s a terrific start for anyone, but particularly for a man whose last three Open first round scores read 80-91-82.
Robert MacIntyre is at the new par-3 15th hole. His tee shot misses the green but pulls up short of bunker. It’s a hood job that he’s a leftie because he’d be in trouble as a right hander. He makes the most of the luck with a fine chip close that almost certainly guarantee a par.
We have a decent clubhouse target set as the Belgian Thomas Detry cards a -3 67. The Scot Robert MacIntyre makes his birdie at 14 to join him on that mark. Bryson DeChambeau, back at 4, cannot join them but he’s made a bright start and is -2.
Robert MacIntyre’s approach to the 614 yard par-5 14th has found a greenside bunker. The Scott called it, roo. He seemed to like the shot when he struck it, but the land around the sand trap was always sucking the ball into its depths. And up-and-down for birdie though. It’s still a good day for the new dad.
Dan Brown has the code to an Open Thursday. It’s his third Open start, he’s -3 through 12 holes and reviving memories of his 65 to grab the first round lead in 2024 at Royal Troon. Moreover, the Englishman has made four birdies in his last five holes.
Scottie Scheffler makes an 8 foot birdie putt at 3. He’s now -2 for the round and making a good start, especially after his missed cut in last week’s Scottish Open. A nod of the head from the World No. 1.
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A nice start for neat and tidy Russell Henley. Three pars and a birdie. For all his recent good form in the last nine majors (five top 10s) he’s usually made slow starts and has been top 10 after 18 holes just once – it was the 2024 Open though.
An excellent par putt from Robert MacIntyre at 13 keeps him on -2. He has an excellent record on fescue grass greens and that’s what he faced with this week. The Scot is also a two-time winner on the linksland.
Thanks Scott. A glorious day here at Royal Birkdale. The course is looking like Opens of old and the field is enjoying itself with wind not a factor.
… and with that, I’ll hand you over to Matt Cooper. See you again later!
Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm all leave birdie putts just shy of the hole. A promising if slightly frustrating start from the stellar trio. But no such issue for Bryson DeChambeau, who follows up his opening birdie with another at 2. His wedge in from close range wasn’t particularly good, but he makes up for it with a 17-foot putt. His playing partner Scottie Scheffler opens his 2026 account with a birdie putt from similar distance. Bryson is -2, Scottie -1.
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Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau take turn to throw darts at the flag on 1. Opening birdies. Just a par for Scottie. Meanwhile over on 12, Robert MacIntyre, who has seen a couple of birdie efforts stay stubbornly holeside, watches one drop from 40 feet. And on 5, Alex Smalley rolls in a 15-footer for his third birdie in four holes! This is hotting up nicely!
-4: Smalley (5)
-3: Detry (15)
-2: MacIntyre (12), A Fitzpatrick (12), Brown (10)
“I wondered if you might be interested in my blog looking back at the 1983 Open at Birkdale?” Ooh yes please, Steven Pye. “Three main tales - a collapse from Nick Faldo, that missed putt by Hale Irwin, and Tom Watson winning his fifth Open and his final major.” You will all remember to come back, right?
… so speaking of that other contender for the morning marquee match … here comes local lad Tommy Fleetwood! He’s paired with Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, the latter with quite the history here. That bogey, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie. The greatest sequence in Open history? It can’t be far off. Spieth cracks his iron down the right of the fairway. Fleetwood goes a little left. Rahm splits the pair, straight down the middle. This Open is beginning to happen.
Another birdie for Alex Smalley! He sinks a 25-footer on 4 and joins Thomas Detry at -3. Meanwhile poor Matthew Jordan’s travails continue. A double bogey at 13, and the slight repair to his card made by birdie at 10 is gone in a flash. He’s propping up the leaderboard at +8, four adrift of the nearest stragglers.
Here’s Scottie! The defending champion gets a favourable bounce back onto the fairway, having pulled his driving iron a bit. Tyrrell Hatton benefits from a fortunate kick, too, with his tee shot threatening to disappear into a bush down the right, but nipping back into the rough. And finally Bryson DeChambeau finds rough down the left. The marquee group of the morning? Probably … though the one coming up behind will run it close.
Justin Rose loves this place. Of course he does, ever since that shot in 1998. And the gallery love him back. So imagine the whoop that goes up when he rolls in a 12-footer for an opening birdie. A three for his playing partner Viktor Hovland, too.
-3: Detry (13)
-2: A Fitzpatrick (10), Smalley (3)
-1: MacIntyre (10), Vincent (4), Lagergren (4), Rose (1), Hovland (1)
Scott Vincent has only played in the Open once before, missing the cut at St Andrews in 2022. The 34-year-old Zimbabwean nearly makes a proper mark on the tournament here, though, going this close to an ace at the 219-yard par-three 4th. His ball rolls past the right lip, a couple of inches wide. Birdie, though, and he’s -1. The last hole in one in the Open at Birkdale, for the record, came in 1991 when Brian Marchbank aced the 12th.
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Alex Smalley made his first big splash at a major a couple of months ago at Aronimink. A tie for second at the PGA, three shots behind Aaron Rai, and the 29-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina appears to have acquired a taste for it. Having opened with birdie, he steers in a 20-foot left-to-right swinger on 2 for another, and he’s bothering the top of the leaderboard in short order.
-3: Detry (13)
-2: A Fitzpatrick (9), Smalley (2)
-1: Sullivan (12), Stenson (10), MacIntyre (9), Molinari (5), Lagergren (4)
An outrageous opening par for Rasmus Højgaard. He hoicks his first shot of the week into a bush down the left. Forced to take a penalty drop, he then cracks his second from 266 yards to the fringe at the back of the green. Then he pours in a 30-footer for the great escape. He wanders off the green with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Scottie Scheffler will begin the defence of his title in exactly 30 minutes. The clock’s ticking for us all.
An egregious error from Robert MacIntyre at 8. A four-footer for par pulled right. Never dropping! Having raced it three feet past – and then looked around, eyes darting this way and that, as if to find a culprit because he surely didn’t do that himself - he does well to gather himself and tidy up for bogey. But he drops back to -1.
-3: Detry (11)
-2: A Fitzpatrick (8)
-1: Hillier (10), Stenson (8), MacIntyre (8), Perez (2)
The 2009 winner Stewart Cink opens with a triple-bogey seven. Birkdale doesn’t always roll the red carpet out to former champions.
Movement at the toppermost of the poppermost (to borrow a phrase from four fab local lads of old). Thomas Detry chops a wedge from an awkward position to the right of the 10th green to four feet, and makes the birdie putt. Meanwhile Alex Fitzpatrick gets what he deserves this time, walking in a 20-footer on the par-three 7th.
-3: Detry (10)
-2: MacIntyre (7), A Fitzpatrick (7)
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There are ten amateurs teeing it up at Birkdale this week. One of them, Mateo Pulcini, has just parred the 1st and receives a lovely smattering of applause. And why not? The 25-year-old Latin America Amateur Championship winner is a cheery sort. But he is from Argentina … and it’s less than 12 hours since … well, y’know … but the Open gallery is always respectful and knowledgeable, and just in case there’s one idiot …
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If anyone this week hits a better putt than the one Alex Fitzpatrick has just taken on 6, they’ll be doing well. And he didn’t even hole it. From the front of the par-four 6th green, it’s a big left-to-right swinger from 57 feet, almost off the side of the putting surface, over a hump, taking an almost 90-degree right-turn and rolling to a couple of inches. He taps in for par, which he’d have eagerly taken before actually making the stroke, but oh my that deserved to drop. Matt’s younger brother … well, at some point we’re going to have to stop referring to him as Matt’s younger brother, because he’s emerging as a talent in his own right. He’s -1, having cancelled out bogey at 2 with birdies at 4 and 5.
Matthew Jordan has got history at the Open, with back-to-back top-ten finishes in 2023 and 2024. The first of those was particularly memorable, as it came at his home club of Hoylake, where he was given the honour of hitting the opening shot. He might want to forget the early moments of this Open, however: three consecutive bogeys, at 3, 4 and 5, followed by a triple-bogey seven at the par-four 6th. A quick clatter down the leaderboard to the very bottom at +6.
… and another birdie for Thomas Detry, who walks in a 15-footer on 8. That street-fighting bogey on 6 looks even more precious now. Joe Dean meanwhile passes up a chance to join the leaders by missing an eight-footer at 5.
-2: Detry (8), MacIntyre (4)
-1: Hillier (7), Stenson (5), Homa (5), Dean (5), Southgate (3), J Smith (2)
Bounceback birdie for Thomas Detry! The 151-yard par-three 7th is the shortest hole on the course, but the tee is well above a green surrounded by bunkers, so when the wind’s up, trouble’s afoot. Thankfully for the early starters, the wind is very much not up, so Detry is able to guide his tee shot to eight feet, and smoothly stroke in the putt. Meanwhile birdie for Joe Dean at 4. Despite the benign conditions, there are only four players under par … although admittedly there are only 24 out on the course at the moment.
-2: MacIntyre (3)
-1: Detry (7), Dean (4), Southgate (2)
Padraig Harrington, who won here in 2008, describes the 514-yard left-to-right par-four 6th as “probably the toughest hole on the front nine”. Thomas Detry tries his level best to prove that, zig-zagging his way up it like the Keystone Kops: thick rough on the right, more rough down the left, a native area on the right. He then wedges out from 55 yards to 15 feet, and nails the bogey putt. That could have been so much worse, but he’s back to level par, as is his playing partner Matthew Baldwin, who also bogeys.
… and so that’s two English players in red figures already. Who cares about football anyway? Here’s Sean Ingle on how Southgate, Baldwin, Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick et al are trying to land England’s first home win since Tony Jacklin in 1969.
Matthew Southgate finished in sixth place here at Birkdale in 2017, thanks to a spectacular weekend’s work: 67-65. The 37-year-old from Southend clearly likes this place, because he’s started by draining a putt on 1 from Bob MacIntyre Country. The local lad Matthew Baldwin meanwhile birdies 5 … but he’s not got a share of the lead, because the aforementioned MacIntyre sticks his second at 2 from 172 yards to a foot and a half, and that’s a birdie-birdie start for last year’s US Open runner-up.
-2: MacIntyre (2)
-1: Baldwin (5), Detry (5), Southgate (1)
Bob Mac aside, it’s still a wee while until some of the more fancied stars take to the course. Time for a little scene setting, then. Ladies and gentlemen, on the tee, Ewan Murray …
A fast start for Bob MacIntyre! He sends his opening tee shot into the rough down the left, and only just finds the front of the green with his second. But he rolls in a 45-footer and birdie is not a bad way to start the week! Oban’s finest already has three top-ten finishes at the Open on his resumé, including a tie for seventh at Portrush last year. Keep an eye out.
-1: Detry (4), MacIntyre (1)
Joe Dean makes it out of the opening hole with par. His second finds a swale to the left of the green, but he chips up elegantly to kick-in distance. Four groups have gone through this hole now, but Thomas Detry remains the only player to make birdie.
… Joe Dean sends his opening tee shot into the rough down the right of 1. The 32-year-old from Sheffield has played in the Open twice before, two years ago at Troon and on this very course in 2017. He’s made the cut both times: indeed he bothered the top of the leaderboard on the opening day at Troon, a 69 putting him in a tie for fourth. (He finished tied for 25th.) Dean is here this week after winning that aforementioned Last Chance Qualifier, thanks in no small part to whip-cracking a long iron at the new par-five 14th to three feet for eagle. On the one hand, anything this week will feel like a bonus; on the other, he’s already got a competitive round at Birkdale under his belt this week, so he’ll look to hit the ground running.
The 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen withdrew at the start of the week. His place has been taken by his compatriot and first alternate Aldrich Potgieter, and the fellow South Africans exchanged texts upon the news breaking. “You owe me a tonne of beer,” Oosthuizen messaged. “We’ll get that sorted for him,” Potgieter promised. The young big-hitting Potgieter will be out later, but as for the guy who pipped him at the Open’s first Last Chance Qualifier here at Birkdale on Monday …
The weather. It’s going to be sunny all day. The wind will pick up a little towards the end of the morning. Nothing particularly dramatic, but it’ll inconvenience the later starters more than the early groups, with everything pretty still at the moment.
James Nicholas putts up from the side of 1. A decent effort that limits the damage to bogey. It’s par for Matthew Baldwin, while the confident drive of Thomas Detry leads to the first birdie of the week: a wedge to eight feet, and a right-to-left slider rolled in. Mixed fortunes for the members of the opening group of the 154th Open Championship!
-1: Detry (1)
E: Baldwin (1)
+1: Nicholas (1)
James Nicholas is playing in his first Open. The 29-year-old from New York was in the opening group of the US Open last month, and ended up in a tie for 65th. After that wayward drive, he’s forced to chip out sideways from a bush, and can only find a swale to the left of the green with his third. Not the ideal start, and the very first bogey of the week is now on the cards.
The opening tee shot will be taken by Matthew Baldwin. The 40-year-old is born and Southport bred, and started playing golf at the age of three when his grandfather took him out to a local field. A huge ovation as he takes to the tee. A driving iron … and he sends it down the right-hand side of the fairway. Out of bounds on that side, but he’s nowhere near. As for his partners: Thomas Detry stripes a monster drive, while James Nicholas hooks into nonsense down the left. First tee nerves!
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Preamble
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 154th Open Championship. Who will prevail at Royal Birkdale? The reigning champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler? Rory McIlroy, long overdue a major title that isn’t the Masters? Local hero Tommy Fleetwood? Justin Rose, who wowed ‘em here as an amateur in 1998? Or … there are many ors, and we could be here all day. Actually, we will be here all day, and here’s the running order (all times BST) …
6.35 am: Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas
6.46 am: Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan
6.57 am: Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan
7.08 am: Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean
7.19 am: Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
7.30 am: David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate
7.41 am: Sungjae Im, Daniel Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)
7.52 am: Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith
8.03 am: Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)
8.14 am: Hennie du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester, Dan Bradbury
8.25 am: Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)
8.36 am: Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren
8.47 am: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth
9.03 am: Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune
9.14 am: Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Hojgaard
9.25 am: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
9.36 am: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
9.47 am: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
9.58 am: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
10.09 am: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
10.20 am: Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor
10.31 am: Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig
10.42 am: Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)
10.53 am: Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonezawa, Caleb Surratt
11.04 am: MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald
11.15 am: Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro De Castro Piera (a)
11.41 am: John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen
11.52 am: Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman
12.03 pm: Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter
12.14 pm: Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)
12.25 pm: Sepp Straka, Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama
12.36 pm: Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber
12.47 pm: Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger
12.58 pm: Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis
1.09 pm: Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li
1.20 pm: Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick
1.31 pm: Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)
1.42 pm: Johnny Kiefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima
1.53 pm: Aldrich Potgieter, Jesper Svansson, Jack Buchanan (a)
2.09 pm: Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert
2.20 pm: Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, JT Poston
2.31 pm: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
2.42 pm: Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Nicolai Hojgaard
2.53 pm: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
3.04 pm: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Luvig Aberg
3.15 pm: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
3.26 pm: Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)
3.37 pm: Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nico Echavarria
3.48 pm: Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco Laporta
3.59 pm: Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow
4.10 pm: Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Bjoernevik Skogen
4.21 pm: Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)
It’s on!
Updated
