The Open round review: Justin Thomas holds clubhouse lead at Royal Troon

Good morning! Welcome to the opening round of The Open Championship. This is one of the best days of the year, but also one that requires a little bit of strategy from the television viewing audience. Because of the time difference, and the fact that the entire field tees off on the first hole, this also is the longest golf day of the year. We’re here to help.

In case you live on the United States’ East Coast and weren’t willing to get up at 1:35 a.m. for Justin Leonard’s opening tee shot, or you needed to get some shut-eye in California after turning on your TV at 10:35 p.m. Wednesday, this file will be your one-stop shop to keep up-to-date on all the early highlights from Royal Troon.

There’s no shortage of storylines as the tournament gets underway. Rory McIlroy looks for redemption after his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau are all in form and searching for major No. 2 this season, and Tiger Woods is playing in The Open for just the third time since 2019.

Leonard’s opening tee shot was an homage to his win in 1997 here, and he was followed off the tee by Todd Hamilton, who was victorious at Troon seven years later. Local favorite Jack McDonald rounded out the opening group.

They were the first of 53 groups that started their rounds on the first hole. Because every group begins on No. 1, the last tee time of the day (belonging to Jeunghun Wang, Aguri Iwasaki, Sam Horsfeld on Thursday) tees off nearly 10 hours after Leonard’s group. You’re looking at approximately 15 hours of golf action on Thursday and Friday apiece.

It will be a marathon few days of golf in Scotland.

Storylines

Tiger at Troon: Tiger Woods’ has begun his opening round at Royal Troon. The 15-time major winner opened with a pair of pars before holing a long birdie putt on the third hole to jump into red figures.

Can he keep it going and reverse his fortunes from the year’s first three majors?

He made the cut at the Masters, finishing 60th, but missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. It’s the first time Woods has played in all four majors since he suffered severe injuries to both legs in a 2021 car crash.

Track Woods’ first round here.

Full circle for Thomas: What a difference a year makes.

Justin Thomas opened last year’s Open Championship with an 82, a round that was indicative of the struggles that marred his 2023 season. He left Royal Birkdale concerned with his position in the FedExCup Playoffs (he’d fail to qualify for golf’s postseason) and on the U.S. Ryder Cup team (he received a captain’s pick onto the roster).

Now Thomas is the early leader at The Open after shooting 68 on Thursday at Royal Troon.

Thomas had five birdies in his opening 10 holes, then endured a double and bogey on Nos. 12 and 13. Birdies at the last two holes gave him a 68.

“I’m extremely pleased,” Thomas said after the round. “Birdieing those last two holes leaves a completely different taste in my mouth. I felt like I only had one bad swing today and it cost me, but even there I was a short putt away from saving bogey. I tried to stay patient and keep my head down.”

Thomas ended Thursday’s round by hitting his 238-yard 17th to 8 feet, then holed a 25-footer on the 18th green with the prototype Scotty Cameron that he put in the bag last week (LINK).

Thomas has rebounded since last year’s struggles. He arrived at Royal Troon ranked 17th in the FedExCup. He has traditionally struggled at The Open, however.

His T11 at Royal Portrush in 2019 is his only finish better than 40th in seven starts at The Open. Now Thomas hopes to reverse a disconcerting trend at this event.

Thursday marked his fourth opening round in the 60s at The Open. He shot 77 or higher in Round 2 on the previous three occasions. That includes in 2016 at Royal Troon in his Open debut. He shot 67 in the first round before shooting 77-74-73 in the final three rounds to finish T53.

He also opened last week’s Genesis Scottish Open with a 62 before shooting 4 over in the final three rounds. Could this week be different? Thomas hopes so.

Turn back the clock: In a sport getting younger by the year, The Open has always provided respite for golfers with a bit more brain than brawn.

The first three major victors of the season all hover around 30, but the early Thursday leaderboard was highlighted by a pair of players in their 40s: Justin Rose and Adam Scott.

Rose opened in with a bogey-free 2-under 69, tied atop the leaderboard as he finished the 18th with a par. Scott finished at 1-under 70. Only a few have more experience navigating the Scottish links than Rose and Scott. The duo have 43 Open Championship appearances between them.

Rose had to go through Final Qualifying to earn his spot at Troon and avoid missing just his second major in 14 years. Other than the 2022 Open Championship, which he missed due to a back injury, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist has competed in each major from the 2010 Open onward. Back in 1998, Rose advanced through The Open Final Qualifying as an amateur and finished T4 at Royal Birkdale, a memorable introduction to golf's world stage.

Scott made his major championship debut at the 2000 Open Championship and hasn’t missed one since, a remarkable 24-year streak that he’d love to cap with his first Open title.

Scott carded his best result in nearly three years with his solo second at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open. Robert MacIntyre birdied the 18th to clip Scott by a shot.

Return to sender: The Postage Stamp is a beguiling hole, and it got the best of Rory McIlroy, who is off to a slow start Thursday at The Open. McIlroy made double on the 118-yard hole and was 2 over par after his first eight holes of The Open.

McIlroy’s wedge shot onto the eighth green bounced twice and looked to stop right of the pin, but it slowly trickled into a deep bunker right of the green. McIlroy’s first attempt from the bunker didn’t make it onto the green and rolled back into the bunker. He hit his next shot well past the hole, ensuring his ball would stay safely on the putting surface. He two-putted for double.

McIlroy arrived at Royal Troon after finishing fourth at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, his first start since his heartbreak in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. He finished T5 in the 2016 Open at Royal Troon.

McIlroy had a run-in with another Royal Troon landmark on the 11th hole, hitting his tee shot onto the railroad tracks that give the hole its name. He made another double there to fall to 5 over.

He signed for a 78 on Thursday, his highest round in a major since the opening round of The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019.

Tide changes for Wallace: Players need to make a move early at Royal Troon because things only get harder from there. Matt Wallace has provided the perfect illustration early in the opening round. He holed out from 84 yards on the fourth hole to reach 3 under and was the tournament's early leader after adding another birdie at the Postage Stamp. Things can turn quickly at Royal Troon, and they did for Wallace. He hit his approach shot on the next hole into a gorse bush, and made triple to make the turn at 1 under par.

His back nine was less eventful. He made one birdie and one bogey on the back nine to sign for a 70, just two behind early leader Justin Thomas.

The weather

The weather is always a story at The Open, and it could add some intrigue this week.

Expect cloudy and slightly damp conditions for much of Thursday. The official Open Championship forecast calls for “outbreaks of rain and drizzle,” with winds picking up throughout the day. Gusts could reach 25 mph at times, with the wind expected to come out of the south. Of course, that’s subject to change, as the summer Scotland weather often does. The full-week forecast is available here and updated throughout the week.

Check back here for updates throughout the opening round of The Open Championship.