LIVE: THE OPEN LIVE SECOND ROUND SCORES AND UPDATES FROM ROYAL TROON
The opening day of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon belongs to qualifier Dan Brown.
Brown, 29, fired a flawless first-round 65 on his Open Championship debut at the Ayrshire Links to open up a one-shot lead on 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry.
The Englishman came through Final Qualifying at West Lancs earlier this month in the same tournament where Sergio Garcia missed out.
Brown, who won the ISPS Handa World Invitational last season on the DP World Tour, birdied the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 11th, 16th and 18th in a bogey-free 65 to hit the front in his first-ever major start at the 152nd Open Championship.
"It did get dark out there and got a little bit tricky but the wind dropped as well," said Brown.
"You've got those bright yellow scoreboards out there so it's hard to miss, but I felt comfortable with my game out there.
"I'm very excited, but you've got to keep your feet on the ground, so I'm just going to go out and do the best I can [tomorrow]."
Brown is now seeking to become the first player since Keegan Bradley at the 2011 US PGA to win in their major debut.
Former Open champion and links specialist Lowry, 37, also carded a bogey-free round
Lowry went round in a 5-under 66 and also finished his round like Brown with a birdie-three on the tough par-4 18th.
Justin Thomas finds himself in solo third on 3-under par.
The two-time US PGA champion had a mixed bag featuring seven birdies, two bogeys and a double on the 12th.
US PGA champion Xander Schauffele is also off to a solid start following a 2-under 69.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is another big name firmly in the mix as he goes in search of a third career major title and first Claret Jug.
Scheffler birdied the last, tapping home from a foot, to card a respectable 1-under 70.
That sees him lie T11 after day one.
Elsewhere, it was a day to forget for two legends in the game, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.
McIlroy slumped to a dismal round of 7-over 78.
It's now coming up to a full 10 years since McIlroy last won his fourth major title at the 2014 US PGA.
The World No.2 made just one birdie on the round at the 3rd.
He bogeyed the 1st, 10th, 15th and 18th, and made two doubles on the 8th and 11th.
Woods also struggled to find any form, finishing the day on 8-over par.
Having not played much competitive golf in the lead-up to today, expectations were low, but by his own high standards, it was a very disappointing day for the 15-time major champion.
The halfway cut is expected to fall around the 5 or 6-over par mark on Friday evening, so the likes of Woods and McIlroy will need to put their foot down in the second round if they are to be around for the weekend.
Another player to struggle in the first round was US Open Bryson DeChambeau, who despite making eagle on the 16th went round in a 5-over 76.
Despite its short length, Troon's famous Postage Stamp 8th hole dished out some serious scorecard damage today.
McIlroy, Clark, and Morikawa all walked off with a double bogey, proving that par-3 holes don't have to be long to be tough.
The Open Championship First Round Leaderboard | |
D.Brown | -6 |
S.Lowry | -5 |
J. Thomas | -3 |
A. Noren | -2 |
N. Hojgaard | -2 |
J. Rose | -2 |
M. Wallace -1 (9)
And just like that, Wallace drops out of the lead and back into a tie for sixth.
The Englishman lost his tee shot at the ninth hole and left himself 10 feet to save a double bogey six.
Can he escape with just two dropped shots? Nope. A triple. Devastating.
He'll be raging.
Meanwhile Jon Rahm is in a world of trouble at the fourth.
McIlroy +1, Homa +2, Hatton E
McIlroy elects for an iron again off the second tee and, once again, finds the short stuff.
His approach is pin high but a considerable distance away from the cup.
His right-to-left putt misses low, but it's an easy par.
Hatton and Homa make par.
Here's who will be heading to the first tee over the next 60 minutes
10:42 Sean Crocker (US), Guido Migliozzi (Ita), (a) Tommy Morrison (US)
10:53 John Catlin (US), Gun-Taek Koh (Kor), David Puig (Spa)
11:04 Daniel Bradbury (Eng), Thriston Lawrence (SA), Elvis Smylie (Aus)
11:15 Ignacio Elvira (Spa), Darren Fichardt (SA), Min-Kyu Kim (Kor)
11:26 Mason Andersen (US), Sam Hutsby (Eng), Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn)
11:47 Ewen Ferguson (Sco), Marcel Siem (Ger)
11:58 Yuto Katsuragawa (Jpn), Romain Langasque (Fra), Chengtsung Pan (Tai)
12:09 Angel Hidalgo (Spa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Richard Mansell (Eng)
12:20 Jorge Campillo (Spa), Corey Conners (Can), Ryan Fox (NZ)
12:31 Ernie Els (SA), (a) Altin van der Merwe (SA), Gary Woodland (US)
12:42 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), (a) Jacob Olesen (Den), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
A reminder that Tiger Woods is out this afternoon at 2.37pm BST alongside Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
J. Thomas -3, S. Im +2, M. Southgate +1
Justin Thomas turns in three-under courtesy of birdies at the second, fourth, seventh and eighth holes.
His only bogey came at the par-three fifth.
The American hasn't won since the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Harman E, Hovland E, Theegala E (2)
That's better from the American.
He knocks in a birdie putt at the second to rectify that early mistake.
For now...
McIlroy +1, Homa +2, Hatton E (1)
Well, this wasn't the start McIlroy wanted.
His approach was short, as was his bump and run.
Can he save par? Nope. Opening bogey.
Hatton saves his par but Homa has had a nightmare, making a double bogey six.
M. Wallace | -4 |
J. Thomas | -3 |
N. Hojgaard | -2 |
F. Molinari | -2 |
J. Rose | -2 |
A. Noren | -2 |
C. Kirk | -1 |
L. Aberg | -1 |
C. Scott (a) | -1 |
J. Svensson | -1 |
Wallace -4 (8)
England's Matt Wallace is rolling.
He knocks it close at the Postage Stamp and duly rolls in the birdie.
Perhaps the adrenalin is flowing, as his next tee shot is a wild.
Where did that come from?
DeChambeau +1, Kim E, Aberg -1 (2)
Bryson is scrambling again.
He has 10 feet for par at the second hole but holds his nerves and finds the cup.
McIlroy has 150 yards to the pin and it's a one-handed finish.
He hates it.
'Please,' he says, asking for his golf ball to go.
It's short and he has work to do to...
Homa hates his approach, too, and it needs a fore shout.
Tyrrell hits the green but he describes it as an 'awful shot' to his caddie Hugo Dobson.
There's a few expletives in there as well...
Harman +1, Hovland E, Theegala E (1)
Not the start Brian wanted. He finds the trap and has to walk off the opening hole with a dropped shot.
There were absolutely no sign of nerves there from Rory McIlroy.
He splits the fairway with an iron.
Max Homa didn't seem to like his tee shot but his effort but his golf ball draws back into the middle of the fairway.
Tyrrell Hatton also hits an iron and finds the short stuff.
And we're away.
How are we feeling, Rory fans?
Rory McIlroy is making his way to the first tee.
He looks relatively relaxed and is wearing all black today.
Huge cheers for the Northern Irishman...
The claret jug was his 10 years ago.
Will it finally be the time for Rory?
Fleetwood +1, Rahm E, MacIntyre E (2)
It's a tester for Fleetwood at the second. The Englishman has about six feet to saves his par but he misses high.
Pars for home favourite MacIntyre and Rahm.
DeChambeau +1, Aberg -1, Kim E (1)
Bryson finds the putting surface but leave his mid-range effort about three feet short.
Can he save par? Nope. He tugs and it's an opening bogey for the US Open champ.
Meanwhile, Aberg rolls in his birdie and is cheered loudly.
Par for Kim.
Brian Harman, Viktor Hovland and Sahith Theegala are next up on the tee.
Harman gave back the claret jug at the start of the week and told reporters he was ready to endure another hostile atmosphere.
The American was heckled en route to his win at Royal Liverpool last year.
That being said, he suggested what transpired was a one-off.
Rahm E (2*)
That's a loud shout from Rahmbo there with his tee shot at the second.
But he's okay and his ball is sitting up nicely.
Thomas -3 (8)
It's a kick-in birdie for JT at the Postage Stamp 8th after firing a dart to a foot.
He joins Song and Wallace on 3-under par.
Thomas -2 (7)
Justin Thomas instantly gets his dropped shot at 6 back with a birdie from 12 feet at the 7th.
One back.
| Younghan Song | -3 (9) |
| Matt Wallace | -3 (5) |
| Alex Noren | -2 (12) |
| Nicolai Hojgaard | -2 (8) |
| Adam Scott | -2 (8) |
| Francesco Molinari | -2 (7) |
| Justin Rose | -2 (7) |
The heavens have unfortunately opened the past 15 minutes, but the rain is expected to ease up as we progress into the round.
Rose -2 (7)
It's a second birdie of the round for England's Justin Rose.
Song -3 (9)
It's a first bogey of the round of Song at the par-4 9th.
Song hit an errant tee shot down the left flank and then came up short with his approach shot.
His third shot also came up shy of the ridge guarding the pin and he two-putted for a bogey.
Song is back into a tie for the lead with Wallace, who is thru five holes.
Thomas -1 (5)
It's a wild tee shot into the par-3 5th from Justin Thomas.
He left himself short-sighted to the hole with a huge pot bunker in front of him to the pin.
It leads to a first bogey of the round for the two-time US PGA.
