Key events
The early leader Nicolai Højgaard lashes out of the thick rough down the right of Darren Clarke – this is going to take some getting used to, if we’re not to get extremely confused – but can’t find the green. His ball topples off the left and down a swale. He chips up to seven feet, but will have work to do if he’s to escape with par. Tom McKibbin however – admittedly in less unpleasant rough – arrows his approach from 169 yards to nine feet. He’ll have a great look at birdie. These two fellows could be changing places in a minute or two.
Phil Mickelson dices with death at the short downhill par-four 5th. He’s unfortunate with his drive, which takes a kick left onto a rough-strewn bank, rather than heading right towards the green. But he then misjudges his chip, hoping to stun it into a ridge running across the green, and missing it altogether. He’s forced to holler after his ball in impotent panic, pleading with it to stop rolling before it topples over the back and past the white OB posts lurking close by. Thankfully it stops just in time. He rolls his 60-foot left-to-right swinging putt to a couple of feet, and makes off with par. He was a wee bit disappointed not to make the long birdie putt, as it flirted with the hole, but he’d have taken that par when his ball was scampering in the direction of the beach.
The first shot in an Open Championship on the newly christened 9th hole, Darren Clarke, is appropriately taken by Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin. The spirit of Clarke doesn’t do his compatriot any favours, as McKibbin’s tee shot disappears into rubbish down the right. Nicolai Højgaard’s effort is even worse, much wider, and into even thicker oomska. Finally up steps Padraig Harrington, who answers Ireland’s call by splitting the fairway. But the other two lads are in bother. Oh Darren! How could you!
Nicolai Højgaard gives a 15-foot birdie putt at 8 a brave rattle. It misses on the low side and rolls three feet past. But he makes the one coming back. He remains at -2. More trouble though for his playing partner Padraig Harrington, who putts up from the false front of the green, and gets nowhere near. He can’t make the four-footer that remains, and that’s a third bogey in six holes. It’s not technically his third three-putt of the day, the first stroke coming from off the green, but it’ll feel like that in his head. He’s +2 and the broad smile, showcased between the immediate wake of his opening tee shot and making the birdie that followed, is long gone.
Another career in microcosm. It’s Lee Westwood, who had his chances to win at Troon in 2004, Turnberry in 2009 and Muirfield in 2013, only to stumble along the closing stretch. A lovely draw into 1, further assisted by the banking to the right of the green, rolls up to nine feet. But the birdie putt never looks like dropping. Par. He’s going round with the new Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup, who also pars. Gotterup is making his Open debut this week, having qualified as a result of his efforts at Renaissance Club last Sunday; Westwood is teeing it up in this competition for the 28th time.
Tom McKibbin has responded brilliantly to his cold start. He whistles his second at the long par-five 7th from 231 yards to 17 feet, and walks in the putt. The first eagle of the week! He’s gone 3-3-3 for the last three holes, and joins the leaders at -1 … for a couple of seconds, because his playing partner Nicolai Højgaard makes birdie to become the first player to reach the heady heights of -2. Hey, it’s early.
-2: N Højgaard (7)
-1: McKibbin (7), Olesen (4), Mickelson (3), D Johnson (2), Herbert (1)
KJ Choi is struggling. Opening with a skied drive is never ideal, and last year’s Senior Open champion hasn’t cleared his head. He misses the par-three 6th to the right, and requires three strokes to chop his way out of the native area. A triple-bogey six, and he’s propping up the field at +6. The smallest of consolations: this won’t be the only big score of the day.
That was gloriously absurd. Mickelson had left himself in all sorts, his ball a fried egg nailed to the wall. Even the great man wasn’t able to extricate it. But the second sand splash was exquisite, his trademark high-stakes mix of soft hands and aggression. Going for it, and getting his reward. You’ll see that shot more than once. In fact, here it is. Spin and enjoy.
Some Mickelson magic
Phil Mickelson distilled at the par-three 3rd! His tee shot plugs under the lip of a pot bunker. It’s almost impossible to escape. He opens the face of his wedge and lashes hard … but even this genius can’t get the ball out. It slams into the face and rolls back into the middle of the trap. But take two is something else. He swishes smoothly, sending his ball high, landing it 15 feet to the right of the pin, and using a combination of camber and spin to roll serenely into the cup! Par. You knew that was going in once it took it’s left-turn screech and rolled out. He raises both arms in the air as the crowd go wild. He remains at -1. That’s one of the shots of the week already. Disaster averted in sensational style, and with such skill and panache. Mickelson in microcosm. The purest tincture o’Phil.
The 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen is the first player to send his tee shot at the gettable par-four 5th into the green. His ball initially rolls up to six feet or so, but the slope of the green takes it back to 22 feet. He can’t quite make the eagle putt he’s left himself, but expect more fun and games like this over the next four days.
An early thrill for Phil Mickelson, who birdies 2 to join the Danish pair in the lead. He wanders off insouciantly, just another day at the office for the 2013 champion golfer. Then Lucas Herbert walks one in from 30 feet on 1 to join the party. Nicolai Højgaard does well to stay in the picture, meanwhile, having sent his tee shot at 6 down a swale to the right of the par-three green. He chips up to five feet and finishes the job to save his par … just, though he needed all of the hole, the ball threatening to lip out on the left. Still, he’s one of four players under par during these early moments of the 153rd Open.
-1: N Højgaard (6), Olesen (3), Mickelson (2), Herbert (1)
In more local news, Tom McKibbin repairs some of the damage of his slow start. The short downhill par-four 5th is driveable, though there are risks involved with out-of-bounds and the beach behind the green. No need to worry about any of that, though, because he finds a fairway bunker down the right. But he whips out to eight feet, and holes the birdie putt to move back to +1.
Here comes another local lad! It’s the 2011 champion Darren Clarke, whose name now graces the 9th hole here. He’s a huge favourite with the gallery, and gets the ovation you’d expect. Then he belts a no-nonsense driver down the middle. He was never going to do anything else, given his experience in hitting the opening tee shot here in 2019. Here’s his account of that morning, courtesy of the R&A:
It was huge for me to hit the opening tee shot in 2019. It was a great honour to do it and I thought it was going to be OK. Everything was fine when I practiced that morning. Then when I stepped onto the tee I was like ‘oh goodness’! I’ve obviously played in the Ryder Cup, won The Open and won World Golf Championship events but it was quite nerve-wracking. My plan was to hit an iron off the tee like most of the guys will do, to avoid the bunker on the right and keep it short of the one on the left. But I ended up hitting driver and then a 9-iron to 25 feet and holed it for a birdie which was a nice way to start.
Everyone in the field is dreaming of becoming just the third player, after Max Faulkner and Shane Lowry, to win an Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Well, everyone except for Lowry, by logic and strict definition, but let’s not pull pedantically at threads. Here’s how the former professional at Bramley Golf Club, near Guildford, got his hands on the Claret Jug in 1951.
Cameron Smith finds the par-five 2nd in two. He’s left with a 43-footer for eagle … but one of the best putters in the world seriously underhits his effort, leaving a six-footer for birdie. He can’t make that and trudges off on a downer. He remains at +1 … where he’s joined by Padraig Harrington, who suffers his second three-putt in succession, this time at 4, and there goes that dream fast start.
First up Padraig Harrington … now here’s Phil Mickelson, another veteran who will fancy their chances of pulling off a seismic record-breaking shock. The 55-year-old six-time major winner races his first putt of the week six feet past the flag on 1, but then tidies up for par and makes a small fist-pump that suggests he’s not minded just to make up the numbers.
Padraig Harrington bogeys the par-three 3rd as well. Two putts from 42 feet far from a gimme … and he doesn’t make them. His place at the top is taken by Jacob Skov Olesen: the 26-year-old Dane, making his professional debut at the Open – he finished in a tie for 60th at Troon as an amateur – tramlines a 40-foot putt on 1. Had that not hit the cup, it was halfway to Giant’s Causeway. A sizzling Danish start to the Open.
-1: Højgaard (3), Olesen (1)
E: Harrington (3), Migliozzi (2)
Taylor Pendrith, having wanged his very first tee shot at the Open out of bounds, does extremely well to gather himself. He makes a par with his second ball. So that’s the first double bogey of the week. It’s not going to be the last, is it. But that’s a brave response to a nightmare start. He’s +2 … as is Tom McKibbin, who drops another stroke after coming up short of the par-three 3rd.
KJ Choi is playing in his first Open for 11 years, his reward for winning the Senior Open last year. The 55-year-old Korean’s skied opening drive led to inevitable bogey … as did those aforementioned errant first strokes by Cameron Smith and Marco Penge. Of the first nine players to complete the intimidating 1st hole: one birdie, two pars, six bogeys. Welcome to Royal Portrush!
Nicolai Højgaard only qualified for this Open last week at the Scottish. He looks like taking last week’s good form into this week, making his birdie at the par-five 2nd to join his playing partner Padraig Harrington at the top of the leaderboard. There are only a dozen players out there, but leading the Open is leading the Open. For the record …
-1: Harrington (2), N Højgaard (2)
E: Migliozzi (1)
Taylor Pendrith of Canada becomes the first player to wing his opening tee shot out of bounds. A big hook over the rope on the left. The 34-year-old Canadian is making his Championship debut this week, so that’s not going to calm the nerves.
This opening tee shot is messing with a few heads already. KJ Choi skies his effort 176 yards into thick rough down the left. Even if that was straight it wasn’t reaching the fairway. In the next group, the 2022 champion Cameron Smith somehow manages to be even worse, a mishit low hook fizzing into the same native area, covering just 153 yards. Marco Penge, who came so close at last week’s Scottish Open, also sails way left, though he’s gone 226 yards at least. A lot of people will be mindful of Rory McIlroy’s quadruple-bogey eight start here in 2019. To repeat: OB left, OB right. Is it any wonder?
The morning wave look to have the more favourable conditions compared to the later starters. There are dark clouds rumbling over Portrush right now, but “intermittent rain … with briefly heavier bursts” is the worst expected this morning. The breeze will pick up though, and there could be a chance of 25-35 mph gusts and possibly “thundery downpours” later this afternoon.
Padraig Harrington looks up for this. He turns 54 years of age next month, and if successful this week would become the oldest winner of the oldest major by the best part of eight years. (Old Tom Morris has held that record since 1867.) Having just landed the Senior US Open title, the 2007 and 2008 winner is in form, and you can be sure he thinks he can make history. And why shouldn’t he? From 210 yards he lashes his second pin high to 15 feet, then rolls in the birdie putt! Another huge smile, and those early nerves are all forgotten. The first rumbling roar of the week from the home gallery, and we really are up and running in style. Opening bogey for Tom McKibben, though, the inevitable result of his finding more rough with his second shot.
-1: Harrington (1)
E: Højgaard (1)
+1: McKibben (1)
Here we go, then … and the two-time winner Padraig Harrington steps up to hit the first shot of the 153rd Open Championship. Despite everything he’s done in the game – and he’s the brand-new Senior US Open champion – he looks pensive, approaching nervous. David Lancaster, the official starter, welcomes him to the tee. Out of bounds left and right. But what’s the worry? He clips an iron straight down the middle, after which his face melts into a huge smile. His playing partners Nicolai Højgaard and local lad Tom McKibbin take their turns – the latter finding the thick stuff down the left – and four days of glorious links-infused nonsense stretch out in front of us. Here we go, then!
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 153rd Open Championship. Xander Schauffele, who saw off Billy Horschel, Justin Rose and Thriston Lawrence at Troon last year, is the defending champion … and yet because this edition will be contested on the links of Royal Portrush in County Antrim, it kind of feels like Shane Lowry, the winner here in 2019, is defending too. Hey, we don’t write the rules, it just does.
Another Irish winner on home soil, then? Lowry fancies doubling up, while course-record holder Rory McIlroy will doubtless think the old place owes him one after that quadruple-bogey start in 2019 and subsequent tearful missed cut. Tom McKibbin, 2007 and 2008 winner Padraig Harrington and 2011 champion Darren Clarke also hear Ireland’s call.
Bob MacIntyre, fresh from his runner-up spot at the US Open, will be aiming to become Scotland’s first major champion since Paul Lawrie in 1999. As for the English, Tommy Fleetwood, second at Portrush six years ago, would be a popular winner as well, while it feels like Tyrrell Hatton is effing and jeffing his way closer and closer to a breakthrough major.
Other European hopes include Jon Rahm, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Sepp Straka. The US charge, led by world number-one and tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler, also features the aforementioned reigning champ Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
And yes, we probably have forgotten your particular favourite and/or dark-horse tip, so sorry for neglecting to mention them. We’ll get round to them soon, no doubt. The first shot will be hit in anger by Padraig Harrington, and this Hole-By-Hole report will be up and running the moment persimmon meets featherie. It’s on!
Here are the tee times for the first round (GBR & IRE unless stated, all times local, (a) denotes amateurs) …
0635 Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Tom McKibbin
0646 K. J. Choi (Kor), Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
0657 (a) Justin Hastings (Cay), Marco Penge, Cameron Smith (Aus)
0708 Jason Day (Aus), Jacob Skov Olesen (Den), Taylor Pendrith (Can)
0719 Phil Mickelson (USA), Ryan Peake (Aus), Daniel van Tonder (Rsa)
0730 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Max Greyserman (USA), Niklas Noergaard (Den)
0741 Dustin Johnson (USA), Haotong Li (Chn), Jordan Smith
0752 Darren Clarke, Lucas Herbert (Aus), Davis Riley (USA)
0803 Mikiya Akutsu (Jpn), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Chun-An Yu (Tai)
0814 Thomas Detry (Bel), Chris Gotterup (USA), Lee Westwood
0825 Patrick Cantlay (USA), Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Cameron Young (USA)
0836 (a) Filip Jakubcik (Cze), Matthew Jordan, Thorbjoern Olesen (Den)
0847 Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Sebastian Soederberg (Swe), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
0903 Martin Couvra (Fra), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Adrien Saddier (Fra)
0914 Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), (a) Bryan Newman (Rsa), Justin Walters (Rsa)
0925 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ryan Fox (Nzl), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)
0936 Akshay Bhatia (USA), Ben Griffin (USA), Sepp Straka (Aut)
0947 Sam Burns (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
0958 Jon Rahm (Spa), Xander Schauffele (USA), JJ Spaun (USA)
1009 Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA)
1020 Wyndham Clark (USA), Corey Conners (Can), Tom Hoge (USA)
1031 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Denny McCarthy (USA), Patrick Reed (USA)
1042 Ryggs Johnston (USA), Matthias Schmid (Ger), (a) Richard Teder (Est)
1053 John Axelsen (Den), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Dylan Naidoo (Rsa)
1104 Oliver Lindell (Fin), Jesper Sandborg (Swe), Justin Suh (USA)
1115 Sadom Kaewkanjana (Tha), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn), Sampson Zheng (Chn)
1126 Stewart Cink (USA), Marc Leishman (Aus), Matteo Manassero (Ita)
1147 (a) Connor Graham, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jesper Svensson (Swe)
1158 Daniel Brown, Daniel Hillier (Nzl), Zach Johnson (USA)
1209 (a) Ethan Fang (USA), Rickie Fowler (USA), Adam Scott (Aus)
1220 Laurie Canter, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Elvis Smylie (Aus)
1231 Andrew Novak (USA), Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Matt Wallace
1242 Dean Burmester (Rsa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Davis Thompson (USA)
1253 (a) Sebastian Cave, Shugo Imahira (Jpn), Si-Woo Kim (Kor)
1304 Bud Cauley (USA), Michael Kim (USA), John Parry
1315 Angel Hidalgo (Spa), Matt McCarty (USA), Shaun Norris (Rsa)
1326 Daniel Berger (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Sung-Jae Im (Kor)
1337 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Romain Langasque (Fra)
1348 Harry Hall, Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala (USA)
1404 Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Justin Leonard (USA), Antoine Rozner (Fra)
1415 Chris Kirk (USA), Carlos Ortiz (Mex), JT Poston (USA)
1426 Brian Harman (USA), Maverick McNealy (USA), Joaquin Niemann (Chi)
1437 Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley (USA), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)
1448 Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose
1459 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Jordan Spieth (USA)
1510 Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas (USA)
1521 Harris English (USA), Tony Finau (USA), Nick Taylor (Can)
1532 Lucas Glover (USA), Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)
1543 Brian Campbell (USA), John Catlin (USA), (a) Frazer Jones
1554 (a) Cameron Adam, Nathan Kimsey, Jason Kokrak (USA)
1605 Curtis Knipes, Curtis Luck (Aus), Daniel Young
1616 George Bloor, OJ Farrell, Young-Han Song (Kor)
