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There are eclectic tales at the summit of this Open leaderboard. It just appeared as if nobody was minded to pay heed to them on a day when Rory McIlroy’s competitive return to Northern Ireland turned every head and Scottie Scheffler performed his usual trick of hiding in plain sight.
McIlroy seemed to battle his game more than the elements for much of round one but emerged unscathed and under par. McIlroy lacks nothing in tenacity, a matter which is often overlooked. His 70 leaves him just three from the lead in what is a wonderfully congested major.
The problem for all involved may well be that Scheffler is already only one adrift after a round where he ranked 150th in driving accuracy. “When it’s raining sideways, it’s actually, believe it or not, not that easy to get the ball in the fairway,” said Scheffler, needing only a saucer of milk. If Scheffler has finally cracked the Open code, it feels like a question of who will be second.
Harris English arrived without his caddie, Eric Larson being denied travel from the US because of a drug conviction from three decades ago. English wandered into a bustling Portrush bar on Wednesday evening without so much as head turns from locals. Harris is 54 holes from becoming the first English man to win the Open since 1992.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout swallowed rat poison as a two-year-old, an event which proved significant during the Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush in 2014. Bezuidenhout was using beta blockers to help with a stammer related to the childhood incident, triggering a failed doping test and a ban which was later reduced from two years to nine months.
Sadom Kaewkanjana is seeking to become the first ordained monk to lift the Claret Jug. Kaewkanjana’s scenario led to a quite wonderful post-round media moment, as the Thai was asked whether he may consider dedicating himself to Buddhism at a later date. “My goal is to play in the Masters,” came the reply. Shove your meditation, give me Magnolia Lane.
This was golf’s longest day. Rounds stretched to six hours, a preposterous if unavoidable situation with a 156-man field and penal rough. McIlroy’s group took four hours to play 11 holes. Keegan Bradley, the US Ryder Cup captain, recounted five groups playing or waiting to play the 7th at the same time. “It felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours,” said Marc Leishman. “We had been on the course for three hours through eight holes.” Grim.
As darkness fell, five players topped the pack at four under. English and Bezuidenhout were joined by a resurgent Matt Fitzpatrick, Li Haotong and Jacob Skov Olesen. Denmark’s Olesen won as an amateur on the links of Ballyliffin. He played the back nine on Thursday in an outstanding 32. Kaewkanjana, Scheffler, Matthew Jordan and Tyrrell Hatton are one back. Hatton’s strong showing in last month’s US Open has clearly fuelled confidence. During such an attritional test, the occasionally combustible Englishman kept his head.
The morning starters endured squally, brutal conditions at times. A predicted afternoon storm bypassed this corner of the Causeway Coast. When McIlroy took to the opening tee, shortly after 3pm, the picture was one of serenity. It was therefore surprising that the four under par posted by Olesen, Li and Fitzpatrick – later matched by Bezuidenhout – was not headed until English made a birdie on the 12th. English promptly handed a shot back to the course on 14. Menacing pin positions played a key role in keeping scoring higher than would otherwise have been the case.
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Jon Rahm is one under. Shane Lowry, the Portrush champion in 2019, was beaming after his own 70. Lee Westwood, an avid Portrush fan, rolled back the years and rolled in the putts when reaching minus four inside 12 holes. Westwood played his closing stretch in plus two but was still rightly content with his 69. Rickie Fowler matched that score as did Nicolai Højgaard, who only qualified for the Open on Sunday. The fields of Aaron Rai? The Wolverhampton man joined the 69 club having been four under by the 9th tee. Justin Rose delivered two under shortly before 9pm. English closed out his round half an hour later.
There were moments of chaos. Tommy Fleetwood’s ball finished in foot marks in a bunker on the 5th, calling into question the Royal & Ancient’s new policy of having caddies clean up after their players. Previous Opens had dedicated bunker rakers. Bryson DeChambeau whiffed a shot when knee high in rough at the 4th. One for the Californian’s YouTube channel, surely. DeChambeau’s day at the office added up to 78 blows and his worst opening round at a major.
Wyndham Clark slumped to a 76 the day after it was confirmed he has been banned from Oakmont Country Club for physically abusing lockers. The R&A might need to order some reinforced wood. Other notables to struggle included Patrick Reed, who shot 77, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa. The latter pair signed for 75s. This was the occasion of the underdog and a lurking Scheffler.
