The one thing that is certain to happen on Thursday is Scottie Scheffler.
Seeing their favorite son, Rory McIlroy, recover from a rough stretch on the back nine and join the 31 players who broke par by birdieing the 17th hole was what made the enormous crowd at Royal Portrush put up with rounds that lasted close to six hours.
The infamous “Calamity Corner” par-3 16th hole was handled by former U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick of England, who chipped in for birdie. The unflappable American Harris English, whose longtime caddy was denied a UK travel visa due to his 20-year prison sentence, put his short-game coach on the bag and scored seven birdies.
Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark, Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa, and Li Haotong of China joined them.
Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, was one shot behind. He hasn’t placed outside of the top 10 in the last four months, which includes three major victories in a row.
With the entire nation behind him, McIlroy took bogey on the first hole, but he was still three shots ahead of his 2019 start. He survived three bogeys in a four-hole stretch with a crucial birdie on No. 17, which allowed him to break par at 70.
McIlroy, who only hit two fairways, stated, “I definitely handled it better than I did six years ago.” Simply put, I was pleased to start strong and enter the contest.
In his round of 68, Scheffler only hit three fairways.
The top players in golf weren’t necessarily wild right from the start. There was the minor issue of weather, which is frequently links golf’s best defense. It brought with it the persistent wind, the occasional downpour, and rounds that lasted almost six hours.
Scheffler seems confused by the attention being paid to his accuracy right from the start.
That’s the second guy who’s told me that. “Scheduler said.” “To be honest, I felt I drove it fairly well. What you folks are seeing is unknown to me. It’s actually quite difficult to get the ball into the fairway when it’s raining sideways.
“On the second hole, I was really only happy with one swing,” he stated. Apart from that, though, I felt like I hit a lot of nice tee shots and hit the ball, which gave me a lot of confidence for the upcoming rounds.
He also started the birdie-birdie-par finish with a 4-iron to 3 feet on the 16th hole.
However, nobody was able to get very low.
Prior to a bogey at the very end, Olesen, the British Amateur champion the previous year, was the first player to reach 5 under. The only player from the afternoon wave to reach the summit was Bezuidenhout.
With what he described as a well-rounded game in difficult circumstances on these links, Fitzpatrick seems to be back on track after hitting a low point in his performance at The Players Championship. He just finished last week’s Scottish Open in a tie for fourth place.
His highlight was the chip-in, which he made on the fly from deep below the green to the right into the cup.
“Obviously, a little bit of luck,” Fitzpatrick remarked. You need that sometimes. It simply came out on the right line and a tad harder than I had expected.
By making a 10-foot par putt on the last hole, Li may have had the best round, avoiding bogeys on his card.
In a group at 69 that also included 52-year-old Lee Westwood, former Open champion Brian Harman, and Lucas Glover, who was tied for the lead until two bogeys early on the back nine, 44-year-old Justin Rose had another round without a bogey.
Harris was accompanied by Ramon Bescansa, a former player who teaches putt and chipping and occasionally serves as a caddie.
A fresh travel visa needed for the UK was refused to Eric Larson, who has been a caddy for English for the past eight years. Anyone serving more than 12 months in prison is one of the warning signs. Because he knew friends in the Midwest who wanted cocaine and those in south Florida who had it, Larson was sentenced to ten years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Abraham Ancer didn’t make it to the Open, but Bescansa caddies for him on LIV Golf. English is trying to make the Ryder Cup squad during a pivotal period of the season. The lanky Georgian has taken the disturbance well and isn’t troubled by much.
Additionally, the golf has been rather consistent.
English, who failed to qualify for the Open in 2019 when it was held at Portrush, said, “I was looking forward to coming this week, and immediately after playing the course, I really liked it.” You get to see a lot more hazard than you would on a typical links course, and I really liked how it frames the tee shots.
The most difficult thing for everyone was continuing to wear appropriate clothing. Rain suits followed sweaters, and several people wore short-sleeved shirts to the end of their round. This is what the forecast’s reference to mixed weather means.
Xander Schauffele, the reigning winner, shot an even-par 71 thanks to a combination of birdies and bogeys. At Royal Portrush in 2019, Shane Lowry, the final Open champion, had the anxiety of a person who had just played the first tee shot. In his round of 70, he handled that and the majority of his strokes in the harshest weather conditions with grace.
And this may be the beginning.
“Over the next few days, we’re going to have difficult conditions,” Lowry stated. For instance, given the weather we had today, the eleventh hole was about the worst. You just need to kind of put your head down, fight through it, and see where it takes you. I believe that will happen at some points during the tournament.
The privilege of the opening tee shot for the 153rd edition of this championship went to Padraig Harrington, a two-time Open champion. He made a birdie. Then he fired 74.
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