KISNER OFF TO A FLIER AS RORY STAYS CLOSE
AMERICAN’S FIVE-UNDER-PAR 66 GRABS FIRST-ROUND LEAD IN OPEN AT CARNOUSTIE
American Kevin Kisner took the first step towards joining his housemates as a major champion as Rory McIlroy made an encouraging start to the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie yesterday.
Kisner, who led by a shot after 54 holes of last year’s US PGA before finishing seventh, carded a five-underpar 66 to secure a one-shot lead over compatriot Tony Finau and the South African pair of Erik van Rooyen and Zander Lombard.
McIlroy, seeking a first major title since 2014, was part of a large group on two under par which also included Spain’s Jon Rahm, world number two Justin Thomas, 2015 winner Zach Johnson and the English pair of Danny Willett and Matthew Southgate.
Kisner is sharing accommodation with defending champion Jordan Spieth, Thomas, Jason Dufner, Johnson, Jimmy Walker – with eight major titles between them – and Rickie Fowler, with only Fowler and Kisner still seeking their first major success.
But while Spieth slipped from three under to one over by dropping four shots in the last four holes, including a trip into the Barry Burn on 18, Kisner had no such problems thanks to an eagle, four birdies and a solitary bogey.
“It’s not intimidating at all,” Kisner, who also shared Spieth’s plane home after his victory at Royal Birkdale last year, said of his housemates. “They’re all great people. That’s the best part about it.”
Van Rooyen, who failed to convert a four-shot lead after 54 holes of the Irish Open a fortnight ago, carded five birdies and dropped his only shot of the day on the tough closing hole.
“It was playing as easy as it was going to play this whole week this morning, no wind at all, so you had to go out and take advantage of it,” said Van Rooyen.
“I was obviously a little nervous, you know, but that’s natural. I’m really proud of how I handled it.”
McIlroy hit just four of 15 fairways but pledged to continue taking an aggressive approach in pursuit of his second Claret Jug.
“I didn’t see the fairway much but as long as you don’t hit it in the fairway bunkers you’re always going to have a shot at the green,” the 29-year-old Northern Irishman said.
“It wasn’t pretty off the tee but I got it done and I took advantage of some unfortunate bounces. I would have taken 69 to start the day.”
Willett admits his dark times were “pitch black”, but the former Masters champion is continuing to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
An opening 69 at Carnoustie was his first sub-par round in a major since the 2016 Masters, and it threatened to be even better when he reached four under par with five holes to play.
“That was good and we had a lot of 12, 15 footers as well that just slid by,” said Willett, who dropped shots on the 17th and 18th. “Could have been a really, really nice knock, but at the end of the day it wasn’t.
“It’s definitely nice to be stood here after shooting a relatively stress-free 69. You look at the number as a whole and not how we finish or how we start. It’s a number in the 60s and we’ve had a few the past couple of months which has been really nice.
““I’m pretty hopeful we’ll never be in as dark a place as we were. It was pitch black.
“I’ve really enjoyed golf the last six, seven weeks.”