Qualifier Daniel Brown leads The Open Championship by one shot over Shane Lowry after round one at Royal Troon
There's nothing quite like The Open. For the die hard golf fans amongst you there may be some that watched the first tee shot from Justin Leonard at 6:37am this morning and watched the last putt drop at just before 10pm on Thursday night.
It's time to digest the first round of The Open at Royal Troon. No amount of practice can prepare you for when the wind changes direction and that's exactly what happened on Thursday morning. Game plans had to be changed and new ways of plotting your way around the Old Course of Royal Troon were found. It seemed to take everyone by surprise but not every golfer was flummoxed by it. However, the thought that you make as many birdies as possible on the front nine and hold on to that score for the back nine was almost flipped on its head.
Qualifier Daniel Brown takes the lead at The Open
Whilst potential contenders like Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau had days they would rather forget, it was qualifier Daniel Brown who climbed to the top of the leaderboard as the light dimmed on the penultimate group on the course. Brown holds a one shot lead at six-under-par over 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry who set the clubhouse lead an hour earlier.
Playing in his first Major, the Englishman managed to settle any nerves quite quickly before he went on to have probably one of the best rounds of his career and it unsurprisingly exceeded his expectations:
"Obviously it did, very much so. 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's 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."
With the light dimming fast on his final four holes, it's a wonder that Brown even managed to get two more birdies on 16 and 18 after making the turn and two-under-par and adding two quick birdies on 10 and 11.
Brown plans to have food, sleep and be back at the course around 7:30am on Friday morning, so not too much time to dwell on his lead before heading back out to tackle Royal Troon for a second time.
Morning groups tackle the worst of the weather
Setting the pace from the morning groups was Alex Noren with a two-under-par 69. Although he claimed not to have played very well, with only two bogeys he sits in a tie for fourth with fellow veteran Justin Rose, as well as PGA Champion Xander Schauffele and 2023 Ryder Cup Europe team member Nicolai Hojgaard. Reflecting on his round Noren said:
"It was tricky kind of going from Tuesday, different wind, Wednesday, different wind, today, different wind. The downwind holes are tricky, as well, because you've got to think a lot, the tee shots, and to not get in any bunkers. I didn't play great, but I managed my way and kind of stayed out of the big trouble and hit enough good shots to be under par."
It was then the turn of two-time Major Champion Justin Thomas to move into the lead. Thomas is not known for having great overall performances at The Open but has at least played Royal Troon before back in 2016. The American's round included seven birdies, two bogies and a double for a round of three-under-par (68).
The 31-year-old took on the challenge that The Open brings and walked away happy after his first round:
"I played really solid, got it around. I felt like I had great control of the ball. I hit a lot of fairways, which is a key I would say to any Major, but definitely in an Open being able to control the ball coming into the greens. A little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back nine but stayed patient and kept plugging away.
"I just had not played that front nine into the wind before, and that was wild. It was just very, very different. But it just was all very typical of an Open, just trying to make the best out of the conditions that you have."
Shane Lowry back on Open Championship form
Whilst Thomas teed off in game eight, we had to wait until games 45 and 52 before we really saw a challenge to the top of the leaderboard. Shane Lowry was three-under-par as he made the turn and added two more birdies on his way in for a bogey-free 66.
The wind may have confused the majority of the players but Lowry used recent experience to hold to just be one shot off the lead:
"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."
The popular Irishman will be
"It's the best I've played. 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 were 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."
Whilst Englishman Brown is in a position he has never been in before and with a lot of the crowd heading home and TV coverage over for the day, he had a lot less pressure over his birdie putt on 18 to take the one shot lead into the second round with his bogey free 65.
The only other player to shoot bogey free round was Justin Rose who came through final qualifying and as previously mentioned is in a tie for fourth.
Open Championship disappointment for McIlroy and DeChambeau
A lot of fans will be very disappointed to see that Rory McIlroy's chances of adding a second Open Championship 10 years after his first were all but over as he shot a seven-over-par 78. The Northern Irishman's new aim is just to make the cut:
"I just think that your misses get punished. Your misses get punished a lot more this week than even last week or even, geez, any weeks, whether you miss it in a fairway bunker or even the rough. The rough, the balls that I hit in the rough today, the lies were pretty nasty. I think it's more you just get penalised more for your misses."
If there had been an expectation that we would see a similar duel to the one we saw during the final round of the U.S. Open, then there will only be disappointment, as U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau struggled like McIlroy but is two shots better off at five-over-par.
Other players to struggle round Royal Troon included 2022 Open Champion Cameron Smith (+9), Tiger Woods (+8), Rickie Fowler (+8), Wyndham Clark (+7), Sahith Theegala (+6) and Tommy Fleetwood (+5).
The wind shows no signs of changing direction, so all players are in the know heading into the second round.
Right, it's time we all got some well earned rest before another marathon 15 hours of golf being played on Friday!
