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 rivalry 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 underneath as 5 gamers shared prime 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 underneath.
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 dwelling soil and second main win of the yr.
McIlroy’s one-under 70 was 9 strokes higher than he managed throughout his missed reduce within the 2019 contest, held on the identical venue, with the 36-year-old hitting solely two fairways however registering 5 birdies to thrill the document crowds in Northern Eire.
McIlroy makes regular begin after 2019 nightmare
McIlroy prevented 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.
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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 quickly transfer alongside Scheffler and inside a shot of the logjam on the prime 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.
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A glance again at the very best of the motion from Rory McIlroy’s opening spherical at Royal Portrush, the place the world No 2 remained in rivalry
“Overall happy with the start, very solid,” McIlroy advised Sky Sports activities. “I felt like I was chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the day. To play those last four holes in one under and shoot under par was great.
“I had it going there for the primary 10 holes and as we turned for dwelling, the wind began to select 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 effectively.”
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Rory McIlroy spoke about pre-round nerves after taking pictures 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 massive names
A star-studded leaderboard sees McIlroy joined on one underneath 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.
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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 exterior 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 underneath means at 6.35am struggled to a four-over 75.
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Padraig Harrington will get The Open underneath means 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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