Stars struggle in first round at The British Open Championship

Rory McIlroy could only chuckle. There wasn’t much left to say or do as he watched his tee shot soar into a fairway bunker on the 18th hole at Royal Troon. There was no saving this round, nor (likely) this tournament.

McIlroy splashed out sideways and bogeyed the final hole, the last gut punch in a day full of them. When it was mercifully over, he walked off the green and counted up his shots – 78 in total, 7-over overall after Day 1 at The Open Championship. At least McIlroy could be comforted knowing he wasn’t the only one.

It was an underwhelming day for many of the sport’s top stars, who were caught off guard by an unusual west/northwesterly wind off the coast of the Firth of Clyde. What was expected to be a gettable downwind opening nine turned into a cutthroat start that featured gusts upwards of 30 mph straight into the players' faces.

The back nine didn’t play any easier, despite the helping wind.

McIlroy was the headliner, his score the worst of the stars in the morning wave, but others were right beside him. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau eagled the 16th hole but still shot 5-over 76, as did Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa, Tom Kim and Will Zalatoris. Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg played heady golf in the closing holes just to shoot 75. Sahith Theegala shot 77.

All were a lengthy distance back from early leader Justin Thomas, who shot 3-under 68.

“Difficult day,” McIlroy said. “... The course was playing tough. The conditions are very difficult in a wind that we haven't seen so far this week.”

McIlroy was chugging along fine until he reached until he reached the famed Postage Stamp, the 118-yard par-3 eighth. Even-par for the day, McIlroy’s wedge shot onto the green bounced twice and briefly stopped right of the pin, but then began moving again and trickled into a deep bunker right of the green.

His troubles were just beginning. McIlroy’s first attempt from the bunker didn’t make it onto the green and rolled back to his feet. He hit his next attempt well past the hole and two-putted for a double. He made a bogey on the 10th, hitting a poor putt from off the green after missing with his approach. Later, he fanned his tee shot on the par-4 11th, and the left-to-right wind carried his ball out of bounds and onto the railway that runs along the exterior of the course. He made double there, his second in four holes, to drop to 5-over.

Two more bogeys coming in discarded any hopes for a silver lining. It is McIlroy’s worst score in a major since an opening-round 79 at the 2019 Open Championship.

“Just one of those days where I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions,” he said. Suddenly, McIlroy’s sights were set on just the cut line, not the championship. “I need to go out there and play better and try to shoot something under par and at least be here for the weekend,” he said.

It might have been unreasonable to expect another McIlroy-and-DeChambeau battle after their epic Sunday duel at the U.S. Open, but certainly, nobody imagined they’d be battling just to make the cut.

DeChambeau went out in 6-over 42, missing numerous short par putts in the opening stretch. He doubled the par-5 sixth and badly missed the Postage Stamp green, leading to another bogey. He was 7-over through 15 holes before holing a 55-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th. That left him optimistic after the round.

“I'm just proud of the way I persevered today,” DeChambeau said. “Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, I'm going home.”

Homa, bravely in shirtsleeves, and Theegala went out in 4-over 40 before settling in and limiting the damage on the back nine. Theegala was 1-under over the final six holes. Hovland and Åberg also steadied themselves on the back nine but managed just three birdies between them.

“I felt like we handled it tee to green pretty well, to be honest,” said Åberg, competing in his first Open. “Every time we were somewhat out of position, we got it back to the front of the green and gave ourselves the easy shot coming back. Just didn't putt it very well. Had a very, very poor day on the greens.”

None were quite ready to throw in the towel after one round. Kim was tied for 89th after the first round of last year’s Open Championship and went on to tie for second. The course isn't expected to get any easier with the same wind direction and strength forecasted for Friday.

“That's the beauty of The Open,” Kim said. “There's so many things you have to be smart about, and you have to try to predict bounces. I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing how the scores are going to be in the afternoon.”