PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland: Harris English and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick joined Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, China’s Haotong Li and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout with 4-under par 67s to share the first-round lead of the Open Championship on Thursday at Portrush, Northern Ireland.
Scores were bunched together up and down the leaderboard as dealing with the elements became part of the challenge at Royal Portrush Golf Club. Golfers battled wind gusts and, for those playing in the middle of the day, rain that was bothersome at times.
“Wind is something that obviously makes links golf challenging, but the rain adds a whole new element to it, especially when you’re hitting the tee balls,” said World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who’s one stroke back after shooting 68.
English reached 5 under for the solo lead with his seventh birdie of the round before a bogey on No. 14 and pars the rest of the way.
“That’s why I come over and play the Scottish (Open) is to get used to links golf,” English said afterward. “I played really well last week. I didn’t have the Sunday that I wanted, but I felt like my game was sharp and I did what I needed to do to get ready for this week.”
Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and Englishmen Matthew Jordan and Tyrrell Hatton matched Scheffler with 68s.
There are 10 golfers at 2-under 69, including Danish twin brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, Lee Westwood of England, 2023 Open champ Brian Harman, Rickie Fowler and England’s Justin Rose. Lucas Glover, aided by an eagle on the second hole, reached 4 under through seven holes before a couple of bogeys on the back nine left him at 2 under as well.
Phil Mickelson, the tournament’s 2013 champion, stood at 2 under at the round’s midway mark before finishing with a 1-under 70. He provided an early thrill by holing a shot from the bunker for a par on the third hole.
“I didn’t make a ton of long ones, but I made a lot of short ones and a lot of good up-and-downs and lag putting,” Mickelson said. “You find that going back on past experience, you don’t have to press it. You don’t have to force it.”
Other scores of interest included Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Spain’s Sergio Garcia at 70.
“It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time,” McIlroy said. “So to shoot under par was a good effort.”
McIlroy is trying to win his second Open in front of his home-country fans, and Lowry was the champion the last time the major was held here in 2019.
Fitzpatrick pulled even with the leaders with a chip-in on the par-3 16th hole. His attempt from well below the hole hit the pin and dropped in.
“A bit of luck obviously. Sometimes you need that,” he said. “Obviously, it just came out a little bit harder than I anticipated and on the perfect line.”
Earlier, Fitzpatrick posted an eagle on the par-5 second hole.
“Felt like I did everything well,” Fitzpatrick said. “Just drove it well, approach play was good and chipped and putted well. It was just an all-around good day.”
Olesen, who turned pro last year and has two prior starts in PGA Tour events, used an eagle on the par-5 12th hole to move into the lead. His second bogey of the round on the final hole cost him the midday solo lead.
Li had a bogey-free round with a pair of birdies on each side.
“I’ve been playing quite solid the whole year so far until the last couple weeks, so hopefully keep the momentum and have some good results come in,” Li said.
Bezuidenhout has been making adjustments with mechanics, and some of those are working out so far this week.
“I’ve been going through some swing changes and stuff,” he said. “It’s nice to see that paying off.”
Scheffler notched birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a strong closing stretch. Two of his five birdies in the round came on par-3s.
Chris Gotterup, who was coming off the weekend’s victory in the Genesis Scottish Open, shot 72. He went 2 under through 12 holes before three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 13-15.
US Open champion J.J. Spaun, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay and Australian Jason Day shot 2-over 73. Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa struggled to rounds of 4-over 75, and Bryson DeChambeau shot a 7-over 78 without a birdie. DeChambeau was tied for 144th at day’s end.
