Holmes leads dramatic British opening day
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — An emotional opening shot by Darren Clarke. A shocking one by Rory McIlroy.
Tiger Woods had his worst score to start a British Open. Brooks Koepka quickly got into contention again.
Emiliano Grillo made a 1. David Duval made a 14.
The Open returned to Royal Portrush after a 68-year absence and made up for lost time with an unusual amount of theater Thursday. When more than 15 hours of golf before a robust, sellout crowd finally ended, J.B. Holmes was atop the leaderboard at a major for the first time in 11 years.
Even that might have been fitting. The big hitter from a small town in Kentucky had his first taste of links golf at Royal Portrush during a college trip, and he recalled how the caddies kept giving him the wrong lines off the tee because they had never seen anyone hit it that far.
Holmes drove the downwind 374-yard fifth hole to within 12 feet for a two-putt birdie, and he ended with a 5-iron into the wind to within 15 feet for a final birdie and a 5-under-par 66.
“You just have to accept the conditions over here and not get too greedy,” Holmes said.
He had a one-shot lead over
“I’m going to go back and see my family, see my friends, and hopefully they don’t think any less of me after a performance like that today.”
— RORY MCILROY
Shane Lowry of Ireland, who didn’t have the level of expectations or the connection to Royal Portrush like McIlroy, Clarke or native son Graeme McDowell, all of whom grew up in Northern Ireland and never imagined golf’s oldest championship returning to their tiny country.
“I feel like for me I can come here a little more under the radar than the other guys,” Lowry said.
That wasn’t the case for McIlroy.
He was the betting favorite who as a 16-year-old stunned Irish golf with a 61 to set the course record at Royal Portrush in the North of Ireland Amateur. The throaty cheers went silent Thursday when his initial tee shot went left and out of bounds. He went into a bush and had to take a penalty to take it out, and he walked off the first green with a quadruple-bogey 8. McIlroy finished with a triple bogey for a 79.
“I’m going to go back and see
my family, see my friends, and hopefully they don’t think any less of me after a performance like that today,” McIlroy said. “And I’ll dust myself off and come back out tomorrow and try to do better.”
Woods didn’t seem quite as optimistic.
That magical Masters victory in April is quickly turning into a memory as Woods struggles to find the balance between playing and making sure his back holds up. He has played only 10 rounds since Augusta National, and this was one to forget. Woods three-putted for bogey on No. 5, bladed a chip on No. 6 for a double bogey and stretched his arms in mock triumph when he finally made a birdie — his only birdie — on No. 15.
He ended with another bogey for a 78, matching his second-worst score in a major.
“Playing at this elite level is a completely different deal,” Woods said. “You’ve got to be spot on. These guys are too good. There are too many guys that are playing well, and I’m just not one of them.”
Baylor School graduate Luke List, who shared 39th place last year in his first British Open, was tied for 72nd Thursday after a 73. Former Red Raiders standout Keith Mitchell is in the tournament for the first time and opened with a 75 that had him tied for 113th.
The Dunluce Links held up beautifully in such lush conditions, and so did the reputation of Northern Ireland’s ever-changing coastal weather. There was a blue sky and dark clouds, a strong breeze and a stiff wind, shadows and showers, all within an hour’s time.
“I took on and put off my rain gear probably at least nine times in nine holes,” Matt Kuchar said.
Even so, the scoring was good, without anyone being great.
The large group at 68 included Koepka, who has won three of the last six major tournaments and looked very much capable of adding the third leg of the career Grand Slam. Koepka was tied for the lead at one
Poston’s 62 leads
point until he made his lone bogey on the 17th hole. He has been runner-up twice and won the PGA Championship this year. He started out the final major of the year in a tie for third after the first round.
Three teams in first
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — J.T. Poston shot a 10-under 62 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.
Poston birdied six of the first eight holes at rain-softened Keene Trace Golf Club, bogeyed the par-3 ninth and added five more birdies on the back nine for his lowest score on tour. The 26-year-old former Western Carolina player closed with a 27-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for a strong start in a bid for his first PGA Tour win.
Canada’s Nick Taylor was a stroke back after making an eagle and seven birdies in a bogey-free round. Knoxville native Wes Roach was another stroke back, and nine players were tied for fourth at 65.
Stephan Jaeger (68) was tied for 27th, and fellow Baylor grad Harris English (72) shared 90th in a group that included Athens, Tennessee, native Eric Axley.
MIDLAND, Mich. — Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel shot a 6-under 64 in better ball competition for a share of the second-round lead in the Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event.
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow — who had a program-record-setting career at the University of Alabama — and Italy’s Giulia Molinaro had a 61, and France’s Celine Boutier and Karine Icher shot a 62 to match the Americans at 10-under 130 at Midland Country Club. The teams return to alternate shot play today after opening with that format Wednesday and will close with another round of better ball Saturday.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp, the firstround leaders, put together a 66 and were a stroke behind in a six-way tie for fourth.