Daniel Brown begins his impressive round of 65 – image R&A via Getty Images
The opening day of the 152nd Open Championship was quintessential ‘Open Championship’ with squally windy conditions prevailing for most of the day and just 17 of the 157-player field able to break par.
England’s David Brown currently 272nd in the world ranking, grabbed a late solo lead in the event when, playing in the second to last group of the day, he completed a faultless day with a birdie at the last for a round of 65 and a one shot lead over 2019 champion Shane Lowry.
Brown, whose only win in a recognised professional event came when successful at last year’s ISP Handa World Invitational on the DP World Tour, is playing in his first major and when asked after his round whether his effort had expected his expectations he responded in the obvious manner.
“Yeah, obviously it did, very much so,” he said “I was watching The Open before I went out this morning on TV in the house, and you’re kind of looking at how tough it is. There was only a few guys at 1-under, 2-under, and you obviously know it’s going to be tough.
“Thankfully, the wind died a little bit for our back nine, so it got a bit more scorable, I think.”
“I wouldn’t say I had any (expectations) really). I just kind of try to go day by day. I’m not a huge goal-setter, to be honest.
“I was playing well leading up to the tournament, so scores haven’t really reflected it recently. But, yeah, I felt comfortable and probably a bit more calm than you normally would be with it being your first major.”
Lowry had the lead to himself after he birdied the last but late in the day Brown birdied the 16th to join him at 5 under then the 18th to snatch the opening round lead.
Lowry was also bogey-free on a day when it was near impossible to keep one off a card.
“I’ve played pretty good,” said the Irishman. “I’m pretty happy, but it’s only one day. We’ve got three more days. I kept telling myself that out there because for some reason I felt like the crowd were getting very excited out there. It was late in the afternoon. A few points the attendance was high out there, I’d say.
“They were quite excitable out there, and it felt more like the weekend. I just kept on telling myself there’s a lot more to do and there’s a few days left, so I just kind of stayed in my lane and hit some good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I handled myself.”
While the wind direction to day was not the usual northerly so often prevailing at this time of year, Lowry had played the course a couple of weeks ago in similar wind conditions as today and was happy he had.
“Yeah, it (today’s wind) did change a lot because we played the front nine down and the back nine into the wind in all our practice rounds. But fortunately enough I came here two weeks ago and I played this wind on the second day that I played here. I saw the golf course in every wind possible I could see it.
“Yeah, I guess that was a good thing to do, and it’s out there paying off a little bit today.”
Adam Scott – leads the down under brigade – image R&A via Getty Images
Adam Scott leads the Australians in a share of 11th place after his opening round of 70. Out early in the day and perhaps experiencing some of the worst conditions, Scott started well with a birdie at the first and made the turn in 2 under 34. He was wide with his tee shot at the 13th and dropped a shot but birdied the 15th by holing a ten footer before driving it too far at the 16th into the burn and dropped another shot.
It was however a solid follow-up to his runner-up finish at the Scottish Open last week.
“It was pretty solid, said the Queenslander. “I think the wind change kind of made the back nine play tough even though it was downwind. I hadn’t really played in that wind and made a couple of errors, but it was a fairly uneventful day. I played solid and pretty happy to start under par.
“My game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like I’m controlling the ball well. That’s what you need to do out here, especially if you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances.
“It’s sometimes easy to scrap it around the links, but you’re not going to hole a lot of 40-footers. So at some point you’re going to need to hit some really quality iron shots from the fairway to get it in close to some tucked pins and give yourself more realistic chances. They’re the guys who are going to be up there at the end of the week.”
Min Woo Lee is another shot back in a share of 18th place after his morning round of even par 71, three birdies in his last four holes a great tonic for what lies ahead.
Yeah, amazing,” said Lee referring to the experience. “My caddie and I knew it was going to be a tough day. Especially the back nine is really tough. Just made a quick double, which I thought wasn’t going to be over the road, but it was just one of those things where it was one of the hardest holes on the course.
“Managed to hit a lot of good shots on the back nine, the last four, five, six holes, and converted them. I was getting close. My putts would feel like the putts I’ve just missed, where it read well but just left short. I just needed to hit it harder and they went in.”
Ryan Fox, Jason Day and Kazuma Kobori are the next-best of the ten-strong Australasian contingent at 2 over par.
Kobori did well in just his second major championship after missing the cut by several at the PGA Championship in May but he knew he had been in a battle.
“Just like one of the most mentally challenging rounds of golf I’ve ever played, said the Australiasian Order of Merit winner. “All in all, not disappointed with plus 2. Could have been better, could have been worse. It is what it is.
“It was a different story at the PGA, so feels like the work that I’ve put in between then and now has paid dividends, which is quite rewarding. I’m looking forward to giving it my best shot tomorrow as well.”
The shock amongst the Australians was the round of 80 by Cam Smith.
The cut appears as if it will fall around 5 over par as similar conditions are expected tomorrow.
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Le Golf National awaits Olympic start
Le Golf National – file photo PGA of America
The 2024 Olympic Golf competition begins on Thursday, Australia’s men’s team comprises Jason Day and Min Woo Lee while Minjee Lee and Hannah Green will compete in next week’s women’s event.
The 72-hole events are being played at Le Golf National in Paris.
New Zealand has Ryan Fox and Daniel Hiller while for the women only Lydia Ko made the qualifying criteria.
Both Jason Day and Min Woo Lee are debutantes for Australia in the Olympics. Day finished 13th in his latest start at the Open Championship while Lee missed the cut at Royal Troon.
For Day he is excited about being able to represent Australia in this format for the first occasion having declined the opportunity in 2016 due to a scare re the Zika virus and the scheduling of the event and not having qualified in 2021.
“To be honest I wasn’t ever thinking about it,” said Day. “I know in 2016, looking back on it, I’ve said it before, where there was some regret, obviously, not going down. At the time I think I was like No. 1 or 2 in the world and I think I was like to a point where I was kind of burnt out, and the last thing on my mind was representing Australia in the Olympics.
“Looking back on it, I should just sucked it up and gone down and played. I think in that case it would have been a great experience for me to go down there and represent something that’s bigger than you, you know what I mean.
“And then obviously when it came to Tokyo — Japan is one of my favourite countries to go visit. I had some injuries and stuff, and obviously Cam and Marc were ranked higher than me.
“I just felt that if I could just play half-decent at some point, I would be able to get back on the team. It would be nice to be able to get into the Olympics in L.A. and then obviously hopefully get in the Olympics in Brisbane. But that’s a long time from now.”
Min Woo Lee is delighted with the opportunity and also the Le Golf National layout.
“Yeah, unbelievable honour. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a team event, and obviously representing Australia in the Olympics, it’s a massive honour, and it’s a massive deal.
“So I’m very excited to be here and Le Golf National is looking very, very nice. It’s good and challenging in its ways. The rough is thick. So we’ll go out there and see the front nine today, but yesterday was really good.”
Minjee Lee will play her third Olympics having finished 7th in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and 29th in Tokyo while Hannah Green was 5th in her only appearance in Tokyo.
For New Zealand Fox is playing his third Olympic competition having finished 39th in Rio and 42nd in Tokyo, while Hillier gets his first opportunity.
Ko has finished runner-up and 3rd in her two appearances.
Men’s Tee Times
Richard Green runner-up to K.J. Choi at Senior Open
K.J. Choi – image Getty Images
Australia’s Richard Green has finished runner-up to South Korea’s K.J. Choi at the Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie, two late birdies moving him clear of England’s Paul Broadhurst who finished alone in 3rd position.
Green began the final round one behind Choi but by the turn had moved ahead as Choi battled to an opening nine of 38. The Korean then, however, played the next five holes in 5 under including an eagle at the 14th to race four shots clear during a period when Green mixed bogeys with birdies.
Green would though play the demanding finishing stretch at Carnoustie with birdies at the 16th and 18th to claim second place.
Green adds another US$300,000 to his earnings for 2024, a season in which he has finished third or better at a senior major, including a runner-up finish at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Green moves to 4th on this year’s Charles Schwab money list with earnings of US$1.317,000.
Steve Alker was the next best of the Australasian contingent when he finished in a share of 5th place.
For Choi the victory was a first for Korea and just the second by an Asian golfer in the now 37 year history of the event.
“It’s unbelievable, today’s game,” said Choi. “I prayed all week. Either way, I started very nervous and some speed was off, which was the difference, and I made three bogeys after six. I kept my attention and prayed. I felt more comfortable in the swing.
“I made a bad start but then seven and eight was better and then made birdie on nine, which made me feel better.
“The back-to-back birdies on nine and ten gave me real momentum today.
“This event is historical in Korea, first-time champion at The Senior Open. Very proud this week.”
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Hannah Green and Lydia Ko contending in Canada
Hannah Green – file photo – image Getty Images / LPGA
Hannah Green is just one shot from the lead at the CPKC Canadian Women’s Open in Calgary, her second round of 70 leaving her behind only Lauren Coughlin in her final event before heading for Paris and another tilt at an Olympic medal.
Green finished 4th in this event last year at this venue so clearly has a comfort zone over the Earl Gray Golf Club layout.
Green who has already won twice in 2024 and is currently 3rd in the Race to the Globe standings, opened with three early birdies to take the lead but eventually ended with a 2 under 70 including a bogey at her last hole which cost her a share of the 36 hole lead.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, a three-time winner of this event earlier in her career, is also well placed in a share of 4th and three from the lead.
“Yeah, it was another solid day on the greens,” said Green when describing her round to the media. “Managed to hit two more fairways today so that was nice; gave myself some good opportunities for birdies.
“But, it was tough again out there. There was some pretty strong wind gusts, especially our last few holes, so committing to the shot you were envisioning was kind of difficult.
“Yeah, I’m kind of glad that I’m finished for Friday and I can go relax now.”
Green is looking ahead to her involvement in the Olympics with great anticipation.
“Yeah, no, I mean, ever since I officially qualified at KPMG it’s been really nice to know what’s ahead in the schedule. I guess most of us are pretty much treating it as our sixth major championship this year.
“I am getting in on the Saturday. We have a Wednesday start for the women, so I’m not getting in super early because I didn’t want to over-prepare and feel mentally that I’m already a bit drained throughout the week.
“So, yeah, getting in Saturday. Going to watch the men over the weekend and then obviously get ready. But I have not been to the Golf National before. I didn’t go there before Evian to go and play the course. I’ve seen a little bit on TV. I probably will try and watch some replays and see as much stuff as I can online.
“Just don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. There are 60 women and we are all trying to get a podium finish I would say, not only just a gold medal. A Top 3 would be amazing for ourselves and countries.
“It’s just fortunately just another golf tournament. We still have the Scottish Open, British Open, so many great events coming up.”
Ko needs just one more win to join the LPGA’s Hall of Fame but is not allowing the anticipation get to her.
“I feel like it’s been a lot easier,” said Ko. “Some people have reached out and are like, oh, it’s going to happen. You’re so close. I was like oh, I’m not as stressed as I think people are thinking.
“I think, like I said after winning Hilton Grand Vacations, being one point away is so much easier than being two. I know when you’re two points away, oh, I still have to have two wins.
“I feel like if I keep moving in the right direction and doing the right things, that one point, whether it’s — however, there are so many different ways to get it done, will happen.
“I feel like if it’s honestly meant to be for me to be in the Hall of Fame and be a Hall of Famer, it’s probably going to happen.
“So I’m just trying to play the best golf I can. In the past couple months I haven’t played the best golf, so it’s not like I’m playing with a lot of expectation trying to win I guess because I haven’t been in contention as much.
“I do feel like my game has improved a lot in the past couple months. Obviously it’s a really good time for it to happen, at tournament that means a lot to me with the Olympics and British Open and all that coming up.
“I’m playing alongside the best female golfers week in, week out. We all know it’s not easy to win. Sometimes luck also needs to go your way. So I’m hoping for a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and kind of give myself good chances.”
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Richard Green nicely poised at Carnoustie
Richard Green – file photo PGA of America
Australian Richard Green is nicely poised as the Senior Open Championship enters the weekend at Carnoustie.
The 53-year-old Victorian is just three from the lead held by South Korea’s K.J. Choi and one behind the second placed Stephen Ames, a second round of 72 over the demanding Carnoustie layout opening the opportunity for a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour Champions to be a major also.
Both Choi and Ames are former Players Championship winners.
“I felt the wind was up a bit more today, and I didn’t quite hit the ball as well,” said Green So you know, when you’re a little bit out of position, you find it a little bit difficult and challenging. But my ability to hang in there was good today, and got a couple of nice birdies on the way in and an eagle on 12, which got me back on track, really.”
Green has been twice runner-up and twice 3rd in his relatively short career on the PGA Tour Champions and shapes as a genuine threat to the field over the final 36 holes.
New Zealand’s Steve Alker is the next best of the Australasians, three behind Green and six from the lead and in a share of 11th after his second round of 73.
Leaderboard
36 hole leader, K.J. Choi, plays his 2nd to the 18th today – image Getty Images
New Zealanders eliminated at US Junior Amateur
Josh Bai during his opening round match – image USGA
The two New Zealanders who qualified for the match play phase of the US Junior Amateur Championship, including last year’s runner-up, Josh Bai, have been eliminated in the early rounds of the event being held at Oakland Hills in Michigan.
Napier’s Zack Swanwick lost his opening-round match against Californian Billy Davis 4&3.
After being 2 up early, then still 1 up through ten holes Swanwick lost the next five holes to lose at the 15th.
Auckland’s Bai made it through the opening round against American Brayden Millar after never being behind in the encounter, but, in his round of 32 match against American CJ Wichenbaugh, he fought back to square the match at the 8th after being 3 down early only to lose at the 16th in what was a close fought match.
SCORES
New Zealanders Bai and Swanwick advance at US Junior Am
The demanding Oakland Hills – venue for the event – image USGA
New Zealanders Joshua Bai and Zack Swanwick have graduated to the matchplay phase of the US Junior Amateur Championship at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, Bai as the 4th qualifier and Swanwick in 45th place of the 64 who made it through 36 holes of strokeplay from an original field of nearly 300.
18-year-old Bai from Auckland finished runner-up in this event last year, losing 2 down in the final but a best of the day round of 65 on day two of the 36 strokeplay competition has left him amongst the leading players entering match play tomorrow.
Napier’s Swanwick, who will attend the University of Florida, was the leading amateur at this year’s New Zealand Open when finishing 10th in the PGA Tour of Australasia event.
The 18 year old is the Australian and New Zealand Junior Champion and at last year’s Australian Open recorded an opening round of 67 before missing the cut.
Australia had just Cody Brenner in the field and he missed the cut by many.
SCORES
Immaculate display earns Schauffele’s second major
Xander Schauffele with the iconic trophy – image R&A via Getty Images
In a simply stunning display of golf of the highest quality in the most demanding of conditions, Xander Schauffele has produced a final round of 65 at Royal Troon to win the 152nd Open Championship by two shots over Justin Rose and Billy Horschel and claim his second major title in two months.
Schauffele began the final round one behind Horschel but, by the turn, he found himself trailing the then leader Thriston Lawrence of South Africa by one before Lawrence, playing two groups behind, birdied the 9th for an outward nine of 32 to lead by one over Rose and by two over Schauffele.
Schauffele would then, however, birdie the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th to grab a three-shot lead over his playing partner Rose who would then birdie the final hole to finish two behind and tied with Horschel who birdied his final three holes to share second place.
For Schauffele it was his 17th start in 2024 in which he has now won two major titles and finished inside the top ten on ten other occasions, a remarkable run of not only golf of the highest quality but of great consistency.
Schauffele will move to number two in the world behind Scheffler.
What were his initial thoughts?
“It’s an honour. I’ve always dreamt of doing it. That walk up 18 truly is the coolest with the yellow leaderboards and the fans and the standing ovation. It really is one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever had in my life. I got chills walking down and quickly had to zap myself back into focus because the tournament wasn’t over yet.”
“I’ve been sort of running around a bit since that final putt has been holed. I was in the waiting room for maybe 10 minutes. I was just informed, just on the tip here, dating back to the first Open at Prestwick there, if you start looking at it, which I will definitely have time to tonight, I think it will all really sink in and settle in.
Right now I’m just — I feel very — you know, pretty speechless. If I sat in a room by myself with this, I would just stare at it and gaze and really try to take it all in.”
When asked as to how difficult it was to win a second major Schaffele responded;
“It was very difficult. I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I’ve ever played in a tournament.
“I mean, it’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”
Rose and Horschel tied for the runner-up position, Rose equalling his previous best when runner-up in 2018 while, for Horschel, he bettered his previous best of 21st at St Andrews two years ago.
Thriston Lawrence will be disappointed not to have taken greater advantage of his 63 hole lead but it was nonetheless a magnificent effort to finish alone in 4th place.
Amongst the Australasians Adam Scott did best when he tied for 10th but after two birdies in his first two holes today he might have felt something considerably better was on the cards.
“Like it was on last week and it was on again this week early,” said Scott. “By the 10th it was — after the 10th it was kind of over. You know, in the end I was too far back.
“Yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope, but it would have had to be a super-hot front nine. But no one really had it except maybe Xander. I don’t know how his card looks. Maybe he’s having a super-hot back nine, too. No one really held him back.
“It was good solid golf. I made a bad swing on 10 and paid the price, made a mess of that. It’s hard to really sum up. I played fairly well this week. Didn’t do well in the toughest conditions. That’s how it goes.”
Scott was asked how his recent form bodes for next year’s majors.
“In nine months we can check in and see where Adam is at in his head. I’m just pleased. I’ve been moving a lot of stuff around this year behind the scenes in my head, in my golf bag, and I feel like I’ve seven months in, settled — finally feel like I can settle a little bit and work a plan, even though there’s a month left of the season.
“I’ll try and make the most of that at least now, and then there’s still the Presidents Cup to look forward to, and hopefully I think I’m in a good spot to play my way on to that team now. That’s kind of the goal through the FedExCup upcoming.”
Jason Day jumped 20 places with a round of 68 to tie for 13th while New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier produced a fine week when he tied for 19th in the only cut he has made in now three starts in the event.
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Many chances including Adam Scott at Open Championship
Adam Scott hits his tee shots at the 15th on Saturday – image R&A via Getty Images
With just four shots separating the first 12 players and several more not out of consideration as the Open Championship heads into the final day at Royal Troon, the likelihood of a classic final-day shootout seems on the cards.
The final nine holes in windy and wet conditions on Saturday afternoon brought undone the chance of anyone establishing an unassailable break on the field and with the relatively unheralded Daniel Brown dropping three shots in his final two holes to slip one off the lead, it is a congested pack who all have realistic chances of claiming the title tomorrow.
American Billy Horschel leads the way at 4 under but just one shot back are South African Thriston Lawrence, Americans Sam Burns, Russel Henley and Xander Schauffele and England’s Justin Rose and Daniel Brown with Schauffele the only one of that group to have a major title to his name.
Lurking ominously, however, is the game’s hottest player Scottie Scheffler who is just two from the lead as he looks to add a third major title to his already amazing list of victories.
Horschel has played 42 major s but has only two top tens to his name. He does however have some significant other titles to his name including the Tour Championship and the Memorial Tournament in addition to the European Tour’s flagship the BMW PGA Championship, so he is no stranger to successfully competing at close to the highest although tomorrow he has a chance to take his career to another level again.
“It was a pretty good round,” said Horschel. “As I said, I think my round at Kingsbarns in 2022 was probably better than this, and those conditions were pretty nasty. But this one’s by far my best round in really tough conditions in an Open Championship.
“I’ve just always embraced the toughness of anything. I’ve always enjoyed it. I think that’s the best way you can do to have a chance to play well.
“I enjoy hitting little bunt shots. It’s not the — I get tired of golf where you’re making full swings and you lean into a certain number and it stops. I like when you have to be creative and find a way to get around the golf course, and I think I’ve always done that well for the most part.
“So I think that’s why I’ve always — or I enjoy days like this.”
“I love it. I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position. Listen, I’ve been in the lead many times going into a final round. Obviously this is a major. It means a little bit more. We all know that. We know what this means to everyone. I know what it means to my legacy in the game of golf and what I want to do and accomplish.
“But I’m excited to be here. I’ve wanted to be here my entire life. I’m finally here. I’m embracing it.
“As I told Todd Lewis, something I’ve done this year, and I’ve done a better job this week of it, or tried to do a better job, is sort of manifest seeing myself holding the trophy before I go to sleep every night, envisioning myself holding that trophy on 18, walking out to the crowd and being congratulated as Open champion.
“That’s what I’m going to do again tonight, and hopefully that comes true tomorrow. If it doesn’t, then I’ll get back on the grind and work harder to get back in a position like this again.”
Billy Horschel – walks to the 8th tee – image R&A via Getty Images
Scheffler is arguably the player to watch as he chases a third major championship.
“I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play,” said the world number one referring to the closing nine holes today. “I shouldn’t say ever, but it’s definitely the hardest that I’ve played to this point, I think.
“My goal kind of making the turn going into the back nine was do what I could to stay in the tournament and steal some shots where I could, and there wasn’t really much to steal on the back nine so it was good getting in. I think I played the back nine in maybe 1-over. Other than the missed short putt on 15 there where I got a bit distracted, it was a really solid back nine.”
Adam Scott began his third round in gentle breezes and fine weather but 12 shots from Lowry’s lead but courtesy of a brilliant round of 66 he has now put himself in contention at just four shots from Horschel’s lead and just one behind Lowry.
When he finished his round more than five hours ahead of the final group Scott was not hopeful of being in contention but that would soon change.
“Well, I’m probably not going to be in the mix, let’s be honest,” said Scott immediately after his round. “I’m likely nine shots behind, seven to nine shots behind, I would guess. If I am, then that’s a bonus, but I’m going to need wind and everything to be in my favour to kind of be in the mix.
“Yesterday kind of counted me out, with a lot of players who are not steady Eddies, fell out of contention yesterday.”
Scott is now definitely in the mix.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier is next best of the Australasians and interestingly he played with Scott today and produced an impressive round of 68 to be now just six shots from the lead.
“I’m not sure what the conditions are like tomorrow, but I can’t imagine they’ll get any better than this, said Hillier referring to the good early conditions he and Scott enjoyed. “Nice to put a good score on the board, and fingers crossed it’s pretty similar conditions tomorrow and try to take advantage of them again.”
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Jason Day moves into contention at Open Championship
Jason Day – walks to the 17th green today – image R&A via Getty Images
Jason Day’s equal best round of the day of 68 on day two of the Open Championship has moved the 36-year-old from his overnight 44th to a share of 7th at the halfway stage at Royal Troon.
Day is now just six shots from the 36-hole leader and only four shots out of second place as the event entered the weekend on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland.
Day played early on day two and after birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes he would not drop a shot all day in the increasing winds and added a birdie at the 13th to eventually finish with 3 under for the day and 1 under for the championship.
Day acknowledged the kinder conditions early on day two where the stronger gusty winds did not develop until mid-way through his round.
“Sometimes when you know you’re going to get tough conditions, even-par is a good score, but we got lucky with the draw, I feel like,” said Day who is playing in his 12th Open Championship.
“It was tough conditions yesterday, but this morning it sat down for us — it was still a little bit windy out there, but it sat down for us through 12 holes, kind of.
“It’s difficult because even though it’s tough and it’s in off the right, the first kind of six, seven holes, you’ve still got a lot of opportunities if you kind of get yourself far enough down there.
“The hard thing is like do you want to take the gamble and push it up? Like on 1, 2, 3, for instance, like I hit a 3-wood on 3, and that was when the wind was probably half what it is right now. I was only a couple paces from the water’s edge. So I ended up taking advantage of that, which was nice, and birdieing that, which was good.
“Once you start making that turn, like starting 9, 10, 11, 12, that stretch there, that’s when you have to hold on a little bit.”
Day’s best finish to date at The Open was when runner-up to Brian Harman last year, albeit six shots behind the winner but he was also 4th at St Andrews in 2015 just one shot behind the playoff so he has some history in the event although not at the level he has enjoyed in the other three majors.
Day is now five shots clear as the leading Australasian, Ryan Fox adding a second consecutive 73 to be at 4 over and in 38th place, while New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier and Australian Adam Scott are at 5 over and the only others from our part of the world to make the weekend.
Min Woo Lee who opened with a very respectable round of 71 yesterday could only manage a round of 80 today and is out of the event as are New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori who missed by just one after dropping six shots in four holes late in his round before a birdie at the last, Michael Hendry, Jasper Stubbs and the surprise of them all, Cam Smith who finished the event in last place amongst the Australians at 12 over par.
But the day belonged to 2019 champion Shane Lowry who bounced back from a horror and adventurous double bogey at his 11th hole when distracted by a cameraman to birdie the 16th and 17th to lead by two over first-round leader Daniel Brown and a resurgent Justin Rose who played his first Open Championship in 1998 and finished 4th as a 17-year-old amateur and has played 20 since, bettering his debut performance only once.
There are another three shots back to the ever-present Scottie Scheffler, Dean Burmester and Billy Horschel.
Lowry was understandably very satisfied with his day’s work.
“Yeah, it was good. I felt like I went out there, I was in control of my ball, did all the right things for a lot of the round. Then when I got in a bit of trouble, I feel like I really finished the round well.
“I’m pretty happy with the day. To be leading this tournament after two days, is why you come here, it’s why we’re here.
“Yeah, I’ll sit back and watch a bit of golf in the afternoon and see where it leaves me come the end of the day, and get out there tomorrow. The job tomorrow as well is to try to put myself in a position to win this tournament on Sunday, and that’s what I’ll try and do.”
When asked the reason for his level of comfort with links courses Lowry responded;
“Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t (feel comfortable). I get to conditions like this, and I know I can do it, I know I can deal with that. There’s an art or there’s a — you know, it’s quite difficult to stand up there from 190 yards and make yourself hit a 4-iron as low as you can. It’s quite difficult to tell yourself that.
“I feel like the three weeks I’ve had at home, the golf I’ve played in Ireland, coming here and doing my reccy here a few weeks ago, I feel like that’s all helped.
Yes, I have felt quite calm and composed the last couple of days. I’ve felt really in my comfort zone. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with how things have gone.”
The cut fell at 6 over par with 80 players advancing to round three.
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England’s Brown leads Open – Scott leads Australasians
Daniel Brown begins his impressive round of 65 – image R&A via Getty Images
The opening day of the 152nd Open Championship was quintessential ‘Open Championship’ with squally windy conditions prevailing for most of the day and just 17 of the 157-player field able to break par.
England’s David Brown currently 272nd in the world ranking, grabbed a late solo lead in the event when, playing in the second to last group of the day, he completed a faultless day with a birdie at the last for a round of 65 and a one shot lead over 2019 champion Shane Lowry.
Brown, whose only win in a recognised professional event came when successful at last year’s ISP Handa World Invitational on the DP World Tour, is playing in his first major and when asked after his round whether his effort had expected his expectations he responded in the obvious manner.
“Yeah, obviously it did, very much so,” he said “I was watching The Open before I went out this morning on TV in the house, and you’re kind of looking at how tough it is. There was only a few guys at 1-under, 2-under, and you obviously know it’s going to be tough.
“Thankfully, the wind died a little bit for our back nine, so it got a bit more scorable, I think.”
“I wouldn’t say I had any (expectations) really). I just kind of try to go day by day. I’m not a huge goal-setter, to be honest.
“I was playing well leading up to the tournament, so scores haven’t really reflected it recently. But, yeah, I felt comfortable and probably a bit more calm than you normally would be with it being your first major.”
Lowry had the lead to himself after he birdied the last but late in the day Brown birdied the 16th to join him at 5 under then the 18th to snatch the opening round lead.
Lowry was also bogey-free on a day when it was near impossible to keep one off a card.
“I’ve played pretty good,” said the Irishman. “I’m pretty happy, but it’s only one day. We’ve got three more days. I kept telling myself that out there because for some reason I felt like the crowd were getting very excited out there. It was late in the afternoon. A few points the attendance was high out there, I’d say.
“They were quite excitable out there, and it felt more like the weekend. I just kept on telling myself there’s a lot more to do and there’s a few days left, so I just kind of stayed in my lane and hit some good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I handled myself.”
While the wind direction to day was not the usual northerly so often prevailing at this time of year, Lowry had played the course a couple of weeks ago in similar wind conditions as today and was happy he had.
“Yeah, it (today’s wind) did change a lot because we played the front nine down and the back nine into the wind in all our practice rounds. But fortunately enough I came here two weeks ago and I played this wind on the second day that I played here. I saw the golf course in every wind possible I could see it.
“Yeah, I guess that was a good thing to do, and it’s out there paying off a little bit today.”
Adam Scott – leads the down under brigade – image R&A via Getty Images
Adam Scott leads the Australians in a share of 11th place after his opening round of 70. Out early in the day and perhaps experiencing some of the worst conditions, Scott started well with a birdie at the first and made the turn in 2 under 34. He was wide with his tee shot at the 13th and dropped a shot but birdied the 15th by holing a ten footer before driving it too far at the 16th into the burn and dropped another shot.
It was however a solid follow-up to his runner-up finish at the Scottish Open last week.
“It was pretty solid, said the Queenslander. “I think the wind change kind of made the back nine play tough even though it was downwind. I hadn’t really played in that wind and made a couple of errors, but it was a fairly uneventful day. I played solid and pretty happy to start under par.
“My game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like I’m controlling the ball well. That’s what you need to do out here, especially if you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances.
“It’s sometimes easy to scrap it around the links, but you’re not going to hole a lot of 40-footers. So at some point you’re going to need to hit some really quality iron shots from the fairway to get it in close to some tucked pins and give yourself more realistic chances. They’re the guys who are going to be up there at the end of the week.”
Min Woo Lee is another shot back in a share of 18th place after his morning round of even par 71, three birdies in his last four holes a great tonic for what lies ahead.
Yeah, amazing,” said Lee referring to the experience. “My caddie and I knew it was going to be a tough day. Especially the back nine is really tough. Just made a quick double, which I thought wasn’t going to be over the road, but it was just one of those things where it was one of the hardest holes on the course.
“Managed to hit a lot of good shots on the back nine, the last four, five, six holes, and converted them. I was getting close. My putts would feel like the putts I’ve just missed, where it read well but just left short. I just needed to hit it harder and they went in.”
Ryan Fox, Jason Day and Kazuma Kobori are the next-best of the ten-strong Australasian contingent at 2 over par.
Kobori did well in just his second major championship after missing the cut by several at the PGA Championship in May but he knew he had been in a battle.
“Just like one of the most mentally challenging rounds of golf I’ve ever played, said the Australiasian Order of Merit winner. “All in all, not disappointed with plus 2. Could have been better, could have been worse. It is what it is.
“It was a different story at the PGA, so feels like the work that I’ve put in between then and now has paid dividends, which is quite rewarding. I’m looking forward to giving it my best shot tomorrow as well.”
The shock amongst the Australians was the round of 80 by Cam Smith.
The cut appears as if it will fall around 5 over par as similar conditions are expected tomorrow.
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