By: Harry Crowther
Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on the east coast Thursday morning, golf’s oldest championship began at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in northwest England. Pot bunkers. Wind and rain. Links golf. The 151st Open is here, and there is no shortage of storylines. Here are five of the biggest after the conclusion of round one looking ahead to the weekend.
- The golf course was difficult. Internal out of bounds (marked by ‘cops’ that used to border a racecourse), truly punishing bunkers and a new, devilish par 3 tested players during Thursday’s first round. Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, and Phil Mickelson were among the many who struggled to navigate Royal Liverpool’s unique links land. Fowler hit two balls out of bounds on the par-5 18th hole leading to a triple bogey. Thomas also found the wrong side of the cop on 18 before playing ping-pong in the greenside bunkers. Thomas made a nine and recorded his second straight round of 80 or worse in a major. Mickelson missed the green at the new 17th, a 140-yard par three playing out to the Dee Estuary. The hole is short, but trouble lurks if you miss the target. Mickelson missed in a bunker and made double bogey.
2. It’s a home Open of sorts for Englishman Tommy Fleetwood. He grew up just 30 miles north of Royal Liverpool in Southport. With the pressure of a home crowd on his home coast, trying to win his first major, Fleetwood fired a first-round 5-under-par 66 including four bridies and no bogies on the back nine. He came close to winning his first PGA-Tour event at the RBC Canadian Open in June, losing in a playoff to home favorite Nick Taylor. He played in the final group of The Open with Irishman Shane Lowry, watching as he won on home soil at Royal Portrush in 2019. Might this be Tommy’s time?
3. The two best players in the world didn’t have their best Thursday but grinded out solid rounds to stay in touch with the lead. This week is World No.1 Scottie Scheffler’s last chance to win a major in 2023, a year in which he has struck the ball at a near Tiger Woods level. The putter has let him down time and again this season and the same was true Thursday as he sits four back of the lead. Rory McIlroy is ranked second in the world and is coming off a win last week at the Genesis Scottish Open. McIlroy has won many Tour events like the Scottish Open since 2014 – no majors. He’s had close calls (last year at The Open and in June at the U.S. Open), but the drought persists. This week, on this golf course where he won The Open in 2014, figured to be one of his best chances to capture that elusive fifth major. He, like Scheffler, struggled on the greens during the first round. Back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 and an incredible par save on 18, however, have him just five back of the lead.
4. Two Cinderella stories emerged during the first round. Amateur Champion and Georgia Tech standout Christo Lamprecht is tied for the lead after a round of 66. Lamprecht stands at 6-foot-8 and overpowered Royal Liverpool Thursday morning. While he leads the field in strokes gained off the tee, equally impressive was a 40-yard hole out for birdie at the 14th.
Matthew Jordan had the honor of hitting the first tee shot of this year’s Open at his home club. Having played the course since he was a kid and after booking his place in The Open through final qualifying, a dream was realized on the first tee. And the dream of winning The Open is alive and well for Jordan after Thursday. He conquered his nerves to card a 2-under-par 69 in round one placing him only three behind.
5. The weather is an integral part of The Open. Displayed on the grandstands this week at Royal Liverpool is the slogan “Forged by Nature.” And while nature was relatively kind to the players Thursday, rain is in the forecast for the next three days. In a video produced by the R&A in the buildup to The 151st Open, two-time winner of the Claret Jug Pádraig Harrington said “Mother Nature is going to determine who’s the winner this week, not us.” He might well be right.
