British Open show back in force at Royal Portrush
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 374yard fifth hole to 12 feet for a two-putt birdie, and he ended with a 5-iron into the wind to 15 feet for a final birdie and a 5-under 66.
“You just have to accept the conditions over here and not get too greedy,” Holmes said.
He had a one-shot lead over 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 when his 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 third-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.”
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 majors and looked very much capable of adding the third leg of the Grand Slam. Koepka was tied for the lead at one 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 in a tie for third after the first round.
As usual, Koepka keeps it simple, and it helps to have Ricky Elliott as his caddie.