Scottie Scheffler overcame an erratic driving show to get inside a shot of the early lead at The 153rd Open, as Rory McIlroy stayed in competition after an eventful opening spherical at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler discovered simply three fairways off the tee however combined 5 birdies with two bogeys throughout an opening-round 68, leaving the world No 1 on three beneath as 5 gamers shared high spot on a congested leaderboard.
Jacob Skov Olesen set the preliminary clubhouse goal and was quickly matched by China’s Haotong Li, one in every of solely two bogey-free rounds on Thursday, with Matt Fitzpatrick, Harris English and Christian Bezuidenhout additionally attending to 4 beneath.
Matt Fitzpatrick holed out an excellent slam-dunk chip-in birdie on the sixteenth gap at The Open
Scheffler was joined a shot again by English duo Matt Jordan and Tyrrell Hatton, with Grand Slam champion McIlroy inside three of the lead as he chases a historic victory on residence soil and second main win of the 12 months.
McIlroy’s one-under 70 was 9 strokes higher than he managed throughout his missed reduce within the 2019 contest, held on the similar venue, with the 36-year-old hitting solely two fairways however registering 5 birdies to thrill the file crowds in Northern Eire.
McIlroy makes regular begin after 2019 nightmare
McIlroy averted a repeat of going out of bounds on the par-four first like 2019 however opened with a nervy three-putt bogey, lacking a putt from inside 4 ft, then bounced again with two birdies in his subsequent three holes.
Rory McIlroy made a three-putt bogey on the primary gap of The 153rd Open
The world No 2 took benefit of the par-five seventh regardless of persevering with to wrestle with a left-miss off the tee, whereas he began his again 9 with an eight-foot birdie to briefly transfer alongside Scheffler and inside a shot of the logjam on the high of the leaderboard.
McIlroy posted back-to-back bogeys after which fell additional behind with a dropped shot on the 14th, with the house favorite having to gap from 12 ft to save lots of par on the fifteenth earlier than producing a late rally with a penultimate-hole birdie.
A glance again at the most effective of the motion from Rory McIlroy’s opening spherical at Royal Portrush, the place the world No 2 remained in competition
“Total proud of the beginning, very strong,” McIlroy advised Sky Sports activities. “I felt like I used to be chopping out of the tough or out of the green bunkers many of the day. To play these final 4 holes in a single beneath and shoot beneath par was nice.
“I had it going there for the primary 10 holes and as we turned for residence, the wind began to choose up a bit and the course did get very troublesome in these cross winds. I used to be on the bogey practice there for a bit however steadied the ship with a extremely good par then performed the final three holes nicely.”
Rory McIlroy spoke about pre-round nerves after capturing a one-under-par 70 in his first spherical of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush
Scheffler additionally struggled off the tee however birdied two of his final three holes in a three-under 68, whereas English journey Lee Westwood, Aaron Rai and Justin Rose – alongside Li as the opposite bogey-free starter – are all inside two of the lead.
Blended fortunes for golf’s large names
A star-studded leaderboard sees McIlroy joined on one beneath by 2013 champion Phil Mickelson, 2019 winner Shane Lowry and former world No 1 Jon Rahm, with simply three pictures splitting the highest 31 gamers.
Phil Mickelson holed out for par from the bunker at Royal Portrush, regardless of leaving his first try within the sand
Defending champion Xander Schauffele stuttered to a level-par 71 and Northern Eire’s Tom McKibbin sits an additional shot again, whereas Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood all sit outdoors the projected reduce after opening-round 73s.
The 2017 champion Jordan Spieth additionally sits six again, whereas Padraig Harrington – who birdied his opening gap after getting the event beneath manner at 6.35am struggled to a four-over 75.
Padraig Harrington will get The Open beneath manner at Royal Portrush with an ideal tee shot on what the Sky Sports activities pundits name one of many ‘most troublesome’ opening holes
Former main champions Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa are among the many others sitting on 4 over, as Bryson DeChambeau faces a battle to keep away from back-to-back main missed cuts after failing to discover a birdie in his opening-round 78.
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