Key events<\/p>\n
The Aussie Cameron Smith starts his round with a pulled tee shot into sand. Not a bunker. It\u2019s on one the many sandy footpaths among the dunes. I was walking down there yesterday and they are like the sandy paths you take through to the beach. Smith\u2019s last four Open scores read: 80-74-72-78.<\/p>\n
Playing partner Keith Michell follows him into the fine sand. In contrast, Amateur champion Stuart Grehan thrashes a drive down the fairway and it bounds towards the hole, finally settling in the first cut.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Dan Brown has followed Sungjae Im in for birdie at 17. He joins the Korean on -4 for the round. It\u2019s a revival of Royal Troon two years ago because they both finished top 10 that week \u2013 and, as mentioned earlier, Brown set the pace with a solo first round lead.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sungjae Im has never gone sub-70 in an Open round before the weekend. That\u2019s set to change today on his sixth start. He\u2019s -4 through 17 and one hole from setting a new clubhouse target. The Korean has an Open best finish of T7 at Royal Troon in 2024.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler on 8 \u2013 he has 20 feet for birdie at the par-4. It\u2019s a good putt, but always low of the hole. A safe par and his solid start to the defence of the Claret Jug continues.<\/p>\n Then Robert MacIntyre completes par at 18 and a round of -3 67 to join Thomas Detry with the clubhouse lead.<\/p>\n Robert Macintyre plays to the 18th Green in front of the clubhouse. Photograph: Greig Cowie\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.20 EDT<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the fairways that are bone hard with very little resistance. The rough is very dry, too, and Bryson DeChambeau finds it from the tee on 8, but the ball scuttles through the long grass and emerges on shorter grass.<\/p>\n The par-3 7th trips up Scottie Scheffler when he misses the green so he falls back into the big group sharing the lead on -3.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Clubhouse leader Thomas Detry on conditions this morning. \u201cIt\u2019s really going a long way. Have to be very defensive on some of the downhill holes. If you hit a 4-iron a little bit strong and takes a firm bounce, it can roll 300 yards. The bunkers are always in play. Those are the little things to be sort of aware of. Got to try to keep it on the right side of the hole.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Paul McGinley irritates a few TV viewers on TV commentary. I\u2019m a big fan because I love how he lets us in on what he thinks are secrets \u2013 but which aren\u2019t secrets at all. It doesn\u2019t, for example, seem to have dawned on him that we all know about stats in golf. I imagine if you told him that you needed to get up early he\u2019d be thrilled to let you know that he\u2019d discovered the alarm clock. \u201cIt\u2019s great. You set it for the time you want to wake up. Brilliant!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Royal Birkdale GC member Matthew Baldwin hit the opening blow of today\u2019s first round. \u201cAn incredible feeling,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was terrifying. It was overwhelming. But it\u2019s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.\u201d He missed the England World Cup match last night because he set the alarm clock for 3.30 am, but woke at midnight when his wife told him the bad news.<\/p>\n Robert MacIntyre makes par at 17. A messy one after finding sand neat the green, but no harm done.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.47 EDT<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood is under-par! It\u2019s taken a while but a 12-foot left-to-right birdie putt drops at the short par-4 5th. The galleries are delighted. \u201cOooohh, they want it so bad for him,\u201d says TV\u2019s Nick Dougherty.<\/p>\n A house near that green has built a platform to view the golf at the bottom of the garden. It\u2019s wonderfully situated, as the property experts would put it. Alas, the R&A have placed a big TV screen\/scoreboard between the platform and the green. Cunning? Or cruel?<\/p>\n Robert MacIntyre\u2019s approach to the par-5 17th has failed to find the green \u2013 it\u2019s in sand or maybe in high grass among gthe dunes.<\/p>\n And Scottie Scheffler is the new solo leader: birdie at 6. He\u2019s making a great start and the flat stick is on fire.<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood plays out of the sand on the 4th. Photograph: Jon Super\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.40 EDT<\/p>\n Robert MacIntyre has made hard work of 16 after finding the fairway. The Scot\u2019s approach found the green, but left him 60 feet for birdie and he now has 7 feet for par having bolted the the putt. A momentum maintainer if he drains it, a blow if he misses. But in it goes! The par-5 17th to come and hopes of setting a new clubhouse target.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler has joined the leaders on -3. A chip and a putt at the short par-4 5th and he\u2019s resembling the golfer who won last year\u2019s Open \u2013 and not the one who missed the cut last week at the Renaissance Club.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Nick Taylor has made a fast start with a trio of birdies. The latest scores at the top of the leaderboard:<\/p>\n -3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (15), Smalley (8), N. Taylor (3) Share<\/a><\/p>\n The 2001 Open champion David Duval is level-par through 13 holes today. It\u2019s a terrific start for anyone, but particularly for a man whose last three Open first round scores read 80-91-82.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Robert MacIntyre is at the new par-3 15th hole. His tee shot misses the green but pulls up short of bunker. It\u2019s a hood job that he\u2019s a leftie because he\u2019d be in trouble as a right hander. He makes the most of the luck with a fine chip close that almost certainly guarantee a par.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We have a decent clubhouse target set as the Belgian Thomas Detry cards a -3 67. The Scot Robert MacIntyre makes his birdie at 14 to join him on that mark. Bryson DeChambeau, back at 4, cannot join them but he\u2019s made a bright start and is -2.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Robert MacIntyre\u2019s approach to the 614 yard par-5 14th has found a greenside bunker. The Scott called it, roo. He seemed to like the shot when he struck it, but the land around the sand trap was always sucking the ball into its depths. And up-and-down for birdie though. It\u2019s still a good day for the new dad.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Dan Brown has the code to an Open Thursday. It\u2019s his third Open start, he\u2019s -3 through 12 holes and reviving memories of his 65 to grab the first round lead in 2024 at Royal Troon. Moreover, the Englishman has made four birdies in his last five holes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler makes an 8 foot birdie putt at 3. He\u2019s now -2 for the round and making a good start, especially after his missed cut in last week\u2019s Scottish Open. A nod of the head from the World No. 1.<\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler gets straight to it. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.01 EDT<\/p>\n A nice start for neat and tidy Russell Henley. Three pars and a birdie. For all his recent good form in the last nine majors (five top 10s) he\u2019s usually made slow starts and has been top 10 after 18 holes just once \u2013 it was the 2024 Open though.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n An excellent par putt from Robert MacIntyre at 13 keeps him on -2. He has an excellent record on fescue grass greens and that\u2019s what he faced with this week. The Scot is also a two-time winner on the linksland.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks Scott. A glorious day here at Royal Birkdale. The course is looking like Opens of old and the field is enjoying itself with wind not a factor.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 and with that, I\u2019ll hand you over to Matt Cooper. See you again later!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm all leave birdie putts just shy of the hole. A promising if slightly frustrating start from the stellar trio. But no such issue for Bryson DeChambeau, who follows up his opening birdie with another at 2. His wedge in from close range wasn\u2019t particularly good, but he makes up for it with a 17-foot putt. His playing partner Scottie Scheffler opens his 2026 account with a birdie putt from similar distance. Bryson is -2, Scottie -1.<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood gets stuck in. Photograph: Phil Noble\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.38 EDT<\/p>\n Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau take turn to throw darts at the flag on 1. Opening birdies. Just a par for Scottie. Meanwhile over on 12, Robert MacIntyre, who has seen a couple of birdie efforts stay stubbornly holeside, watches one drop from 40 feet. And on 5, Alex Smalley rolls in a 15-footer for his third birdie in four holes! This is hotting up nicely!<\/p>\n -4: Smalley (5) Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI wondered if you might be interested in my blog looking back at the 1983 Open at Birkdale?\u201d Ooh yes please, Steven Pye. \u201cThree main tales – a collapse from Nick Faldo, <\/a>that <\/a>missed putt by Hale Irwin, and Tom Watson winning his fifth Open and his final major.<\/a>\u201d You will all remember to come back, right?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 so speaking of that other contender for the morning marquee match \u2026 here comes local lad Tommy Fleetwood! He\u2019s paired with Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, the latter with quite the history here. That bogey, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie. The greatest sequence in Open history? It can\u2019t be far off. Spieth cracks his iron down the right of the fairway. Fleetwood goes a little left. Rahm splits the pair, straight down the middle. This Open is beginning to happen.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Another birdie for Alex Smalley! He sinks a 25-footer on 4 and joins Thomas Detry at -3. Meanwhile poor Matthew Jordan\u2019s travails continue. A double bogey at 13, and the slight repair to his card made by birdie at 10 is gone in a flash. He\u2019s propping up the leaderboard at +8, four adrift of the nearest stragglers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s Scottie!<\/a> The defending champion gets a favourable bounce back onto the fairway, having pulled his driving iron a bit. Tyrrell Hatton benefits from a fortunate kick, too, with his tee shot threatening to disappear into a bush down the right, but nipping back into the rough. And finally Bryson DeChambeau finds rough down the left. The marquee group of the morning? Probably \u2026 though the one coming up behind will run it close.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Justin Rose loves this place. Of course he does, ever since that shot in 1998. And the gallery love him back. So imagine the whoop that goes up when he rolls in a 12-footer for an opening birdie. A three for his playing partner Viktor Hovland, too.<\/p>\n -3: Detry (13) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scott Vincent has only played in the Open once before, missing the cut at St Andrews in 2022. The 34-year-old Zimbabwean nearly makes a proper mark on the tournament here, though, going this close to an ace at the 219-yard par-three 4th. His ball rolls past the right lip, a couple of inches wide. Birdie, though, and he\u2019s -1. The last hole in one in the Open at Birkdale, for the record, came in 1991 when Brian Marchbank aced the 12th.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.51 EDT<\/p>\n Alex Smalley made his first big splash at a major a couple of months ago at Aronimink. A tie for second at the PGA, three shots behind Aaron Rai, and the 29-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina appears to have acquired a taste for it. Having opened with birdie, he steers in a 20-foot left-to-right swinger on 2 for another, and he\u2019s bothering the top of the leaderboard in short order.<\/p>\n -3: Detry (13) Share<\/a><\/p>\n An outrageous opening par for Rasmus H\u00f8jgaard. He hoicks his first shot of the week into a bush down the left. Forced to take a penalty drop, he then cracks his second from 266 yards to the fringe at the back of the green. Then he pours in a 30-footer for the great escape. He wanders off the green with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler will begin the defence of his title in exactly 30 minutes. The clock\u2019s ticking for us all.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n An egregious error from Robert MacIntyre at 8. A four-footer for par pulled right. Never dropping! Having raced it three feet past \u2013 and then looked around, eyes darting this way and that, as if to find a culprit because he surely didn\u2019t do that himself – he does well to gather himself and tidy up for bogey. But he drops back to -1.<\/p>\n -3: Detry (11) Share<\/a><\/p>\n The 2009 winner Stewart Cink opens with a triple-bogey seven. Birkdale doesn\u2019t always roll the red carpet out to former champions.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Movement at the toppermost of the poppermost (to borrow a phrase from four fab local lads of old). Thomas Detry chops a wedge from an awkward position to the right of the 10th green to four feet, and makes the birdie putt. Meanwhile Alex Fitzpatrick gets what he deserves this time, walking in a 20-footer on the par-three 7th.<\/p>\n -3: Detry (10) Early leader Thomas Detry. Photograph: Greig Cowie\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.10 EDT<\/p>\n There are ten amateurs teeing it up at Birkdale this week. One of them, Mateo Pulcini, has just parred the 1st and receives a lovely smattering of applause. And why not? The 25-year-old Latin America Amateur Championship winner is a cheery sort. But he is from Argentina \u2026 and it\u2019s less than 12 hours since \u2026 well, y\u2019know<\/a> \u2026 but the Open gallery is always respectful and knowledgeable, and just in case there\u2019s one idiot \u2026<\/p>\n Argentina’s Mateo Pulcini wears his favourite shoes. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.11 EDT<\/p>\n If anyone this week hits a better putt than the one Alex Fitzpatrick has just taken on 6, they\u2019ll be doing well. And he didn\u2019t even hole it. From the front of the par-four 6th green, it\u2019s a big left-to-right swinger from 57 feet, almost off the side of the putting surface, over a hump, taking an almost 90-degree right-turn and rolling to a couple of inches. He taps in for par, which he\u2019d have eagerly taken before actually making the stroke, but oh my that deserved to drop. Matt\u2019s younger brother \u2026 well, at some point we\u2019re going to have to stop referring to him as Matt\u2019s younger brother, because he\u2019s emerging as a talent in his own right. He\u2019s -1, having cancelled out bogey at 2 with birdies at 4 and 5.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Matthew Jordan has got history at the Open, with back-to-back top-ten finishes in 2023 and 2024. The first of those was particularly memorable, as it came at his home club of Hoylake, where he was given the honour of hitting the opening shot. He might want to forget the early moments of this Open, however: three consecutive bogeys, at 3, 4 and 5, followed by a triple-bogey seven at the par-four 6th. A quick clatter down the leaderboard to the very bottom at +6.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 and another birdie for Thomas Detry, who walks in a 15-footer on 8. That street-fighting bogey on 6 looks even more precious now. Joe Dean meanwhile passes up a chance to join the leaders by missing an eight-footer at 5.<\/p>\n -2: Detry (8), MacIntyre (4) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Bounceback birdie for Thomas Detry! The 151-yard par-three 7th is the shortest hole on the course, but the tee is well above a green surrounded by bunkers, so when the wind\u2019s up, trouble\u2019s afoot. Thankfully for the early starters, the wind is very much not up, so Detry is able to guide his tee shot to eight feet, and smoothly stroke in the putt. Meanwhile birdie for Joe Dean at 4. Despite the benign conditions, there are only four players under par \u2026 although admittedly there are only 24 out on the course at the moment.<\/p>\n -2: MacIntyre (3) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Padraig Harrington, who won here in 2008, describes the 514-yard left-to-right par-four 6th as \u201cprobably the toughest hole on the front nine\u201d. Thomas Detry tries his level best to prove that, zig-zagging his way up it like the Keystone Kops: thick rough on the right, more rough down the left, a native area on the right. He then wedges out from 55 yards to 15 feet, and nails the bogey putt. That could have been so much worse, but he\u2019s back to level par, as is his playing partner Matthew Baldwin, who also bogeys.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 and so that\u2019s two English players in red figures already. Who cares about football anyway?<\/a> Here\u2019s Sean Ingle on how Southgate, Baldwin, Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick et al are trying to land England\u2019s first home win since Tony Jacklin in 1969.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Matthew Southgate finished in sixth place here at Birkdale in 2017, thanks to a spectacular weekend\u2019s work: 67-65. The 37-year-old from Southend clearly likes this place, because he\u2019s started by draining a putt on 1 from Bob MacIntyre Country. The local lad Matthew Baldwin meanwhile birdies 5 \u2026 but he\u2019s not got a share of the lead, because the aforementioned MacIntyre sticks his second at 2 from 172 yards to a foot and a half, and that\u2019s a birdie-birdie start for last year\u2019s US Open runner-up.<\/p>\n -2: MacIntyre (2) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Bob Mac aside, it\u2019s still a wee while until some of the more fancied stars take to the course. Time for a little scene setting, then. Ladies and gentlemen, on the tee, Ewan Murray \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A fast start for Bob MacIntyre! He sends his opening tee shot into the rough down the left, and only just finds the front of the green with his second. But he rolls in a 45-footer and birdie is not a bad way to start the week! Oban\u2019s finest already has three top-ten finishes at the Open on his resum\u00e9, including a tie for seventh at Portrush last year. Keep an eye out.<\/p>\n -1: Detry (4), MacIntyre (1)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Joe Dean makes it out of the opening hole with par. His second finds a swale to the left of the green, but he chips up elegantly to kick-in distance. Four groups have gone through this hole now, but Thomas Detry remains the only player to make birdie.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 Joe Dean sends his opening tee shot into the rough down the right of 1. The 32-year-old from Sheffield has played in the Open twice before, two years ago at Troon and on this very course in 2017. He\u2019s made the cut both times: indeed he bothered the top of the leaderboard on the opening day at Troon, a 69 putting him in a tie for fourth. (He finished tied for 25th.) Dean is here this week after winning that aforementioned Last Chance Qualifier, thanks in no small part to whip-cracking a long iron at the new par-five 14th to three feet for eagle. On the one hand, anything this week will feel like a bonus; on the other, he\u2019s already got a competitive round at Birkdale under his belt this week, so he\u2019ll look to hit the ground running.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen withdrew at the start of the week. His place has been taken by his compatriot and first alternate Aldrich Potgieter, and the fellow South Africans exchanged texts upon the news breaking. \u201cYou owe me a tonne of beer,\u201d Oosthuizen messaged. \u201cWe\u2019ll get that sorted for him,\u201d Potgieter promised. The young big-hitting Potgieter will be out later, but as for the guy who pipped him at the Open\u2019s first Last Chance Qualifier here at Birkdale on Monday \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The weather. It\u2019s going to be sunny all day. The wind will pick up a little towards the end of the morning. Nothing particularly dramatic, but it\u2019ll inconvenience the later starters more than the early groups, with everything pretty still at the moment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n James Nicholas putts up from the side of 1. A decent effort that limits the damage to bogey. It\u2019s par for Matthew Baldwin, while the confident drive of Thomas Detry leads to the first birdie of the week: a wedge to eight feet, and a right-to-left slider rolled in. Mixed fortunes for the members of the opening group of the 154th Open Championship!<\/p>\n -1: Detry (1) Share<\/a><\/p>\n James Nicholas is playing in his first Open. The 29-year-old from New York was in the opening group of the US Open last month, and ended up in a tie for 65th. After that wayward drive, he\u2019s forced to chip out sideways from a bush, and can only find a swale to the left of the green with his third. Not the ideal start, and the very first bogey of the week is now on the cards.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The opening tee shot will be taken by Matthew Baldwin. The 40-year-old is born and Southport bred, and started playing golf at the age of three when his grandfather took him out to a local field. A huge ovation as he takes to the tee. A driving iron \u2026 and he sends it down the right-hand side of the fairway. Out of bounds on that side, but he\u2019s nowhere near. As for his partners: Thomas Detry stripes a monster drive, while James Nicholas hooks into nonsense down the left. First tee nerves!<\/p>\n
-2: Im (13), Brown (13), Hovland (6), Scheffler (4), DeChambeau (4), Gerard (3)<\/p>\n
-3: Detry (15)
-2: MacIntyre (12), A Fitzpatrick (12), Brown (10)<\/p>\n
-2: A Fitzpatrick (10), Smalley (3)
-1: MacIntyre (10), Vincent (4), Lagergren (4), Rose (1), Hovland (1)<\/p>\n
-2: A Fitzpatrick (9), Smalley (2)
-1: Sullivan (12), Stenson (10), MacIntyre (9), Molinari (5), Lagergren (4)<\/p>\n
-2: A Fitzpatrick (8)
-1: Hillier (10), Stenson (8), MacIntyre (8), Perez (2)<\/p>\n
-2: MacIntyre (7), A Fitzpatrick (7)<\/p>\n
-1: Hillier (7), Stenson (5), Homa (5), Dean (5), Southgate (3), J Smith (2)<\/p>\n
-1: Detry (7), Dean (4), Southgate (2)<\/p>\n
-1: Baldwin (5), Detry (5), Southgate (1)<\/p>\n
E: Baldwin (1)
+1: Nicholas (1)<\/p>\n