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That was gloriously absurd. Mickelson had left himself in all sorts, his ball a fried egg nailed to the wall. Even the great man wasn\u2019t able to extricate it. But the second sand splash was exquisite, his trademark high-stakes mix of soft hands and aggression. Going for it, and getting his reward. You\u2019ll see that shot more than once. In fact, here it is. Spin and enjoy.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>Some Mickelson magic<\/p>\n Phil Mickelson distilled at the par-three 3rd! His tee shot plugs under the lip of a pot bunker. It\u2019s almost impossible to escape. He opens the face of his wedge and lashes hard \u2026 but even this genius can\u2019t get the ball out. It slams into the face and rolls back into the middle of the trap. But take two is something else. He swishes smoothly, sending his ball high, landing it 15 feet to the right of the pin, and using a combination of camber and spin to roll serenely into the cup! Par. You knew that was going in once it took it\u2019s left-turn screech and rolled out. He raises both arms in the air as the crowd go wild. He remains at -1. That\u2019s one of the shots of the week already. Disaster averted in sensational style, and with such skill and panache. Mickelson in microcosm. The purest tincture o\u2019Phil.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen is the first player to send his tee shot at the gettable par-four 5th into the green. His ball initially rolls up to six feet or so, but the slope of the green takes it back to 22 feet. He can\u2019t quite make the eagle putt he\u2019s left himself, but expect more fun and games like this over the next four days.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n An early thrill for Phil Mickelson, who birdies 2 to join the Danish pair in the lead. He wanders off insouciantly, just another day at the office for the 2013 champion golfer. Then Lucas Herbert walks one in from 30 feet on 1 to join the party. Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard does well to stay in the picture, meanwhile, having sent his tee shot at 6 down a swale to the right of the par-three green. He chips up to five feet and finishes the job to save his par \u2026 just, though he needed all of the hole, the ball threatening to lip out on the left. Still, he\u2019s one of four players under par during these early moments of the 153rd Open.<\/p>\n -1: N H\u00f8jgaard (6), Olesen (3), Mickelson (2), Herbert (1)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In more local news, Tom McKibbin repairs some of the damage of his slow start. The short downhill par-four 5th is driveable, though there are risks involved with out-of-bounds and the beach behind the green. No need to worry about any of that, though, because he finds a fairway bunker down the right. But he whips out to eight feet, and holes the birdie putt to move back to +1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here comes another local lad! It\u2019s the 2011 champion Darren Clarke, whose name now graces the 9th hole here. He\u2019s a huge favourite with the gallery, and gets the ovation you\u2019d expect. Then he belts a no-nonsense driver down the middle. He was never going to do anything else, given his experience in hitting the opening tee shot here in 2019. Here\u2019s his account of that morning, courtesy of the R&A:<\/p>\n It was huge for me to hit the opening tee shot in 2019. It was a great honour to do it and I thought it was going to be OK. Everything was fine when I practiced that morning. Then when I stepped onto the tee I was like \u2018oh goodness\u2019! I\u2019ve obviously played in the Ryder Cup, won The Open and won World Golf Championship events but it was quite nerve-wracking. My plan was to hit an iron off the tee like most of the guys will do, to avoid the bunker on the right and keep it short of the one on the left. But I ended up hitting driver and then a 9-iron to 25 feet and holed it for a birdie which was a nice way to start.<\/p>\n Darren Clarke gets going on the first. Photograph: Andrew Redington\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.05 EDT<\/p>\n Everyone in the field is dreaming of becoming just the third player, after Max Faulkner and Shane Lowry, to win an Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Well, everyone except for Lowry, by logic and strict definition, but let\u2019s not pull pedantically at threads. Here\u2019s how the former professional at Bramley Golf<\/a> Club, near Guildford, got his hands on the Claret Jug in 1951.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Cameron Smith finds the par-five 2nd in two. He\u2019s left with a 43-footer for eagle \u2026 but one of the best putters in the world seriously underhits his effort, leaving a six-footer for birdie. He can\u2019t make that and trudges off on a downer. He remains at +1 \u2026 where he\u2019s joined by Padraig Harrington, who suffers his second three-putt in succession, this time at 4, and there goes that dream<\/a> fast start.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n First up Padraig Harrington \u2026 now here\u2019s Phil Mickelson, another veteran who will fancy their chances of pulling off a seismic record-breaking shock. The 55-year-old six-time major winner races his first putt of the week six feet past the flag on 1, but then tidies up for par and makes a small fist-pump that suggests he\u2019s not minded just to make up the numbers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Padraig Harrington bogeys the par-three 3rd as well. Two putts from 42 feet far from a gimme \u2026 and he doesn\u2019t make them. His place at the top is taken by Jacob Skov Olesen: the 26-year-old Dane, making his professional debut at the Open \u2013 he finished in a tie for 60th at Troon as an amateur \u2013 tramlines a 40-foot putt on 1. Had that not hit the cup, it was halfway to Giant\u2019s Causeway. A sizzling Danish<\/a> start to the Open.<\/p>\n -1: H\u00f8jgaard (3), Olesen (1) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Taylor Pendrith, having wanged his very first tee shot at the Open out of bounds, does extremely well to gather himself. He makes a par with his second ball. So that\u2019s the first double bogey of the week. It\u2019s not going to be the last, is it. But that\u2019s a brave response to a nightmare start. He\u2019s +2 \u2026 as is Tom McKibbin, who drops another stroke after coming up short of the par-three 3rd.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n KJ Choi is playing in his first Open for 11 years, his reward for winning the Senior Open last year. The 55-year-old Korean\u2019s skied opening drive led to inevitable bogey \u2026 as did those aforementioned errant first strokes by Cameron Smith and Marco Penge. Of the first nine players to complete the intimidating 1st hole: one birdie, two pars, six bogeys. Welcome to Royal Portrush!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard only qualified for this Open last week at the Scottish. He looks like taking last week\u2019s good form into this week, making his birdie at the par-five 2nd to join his playing partner Padraig Harrington at the top of the leaderboard. There are only a dozen players out there, but leading the Open is leading the Open. For the record \u2026<\/p>\n -1: Harrington (2), N H\u00f8jgaard (2) Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard acknowledges the crowd. Photograph: Alex Slitz\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.19 EDT<\/p>\n Taylor Pendrith of Canada becomes the first player to wing his opening tee shot out of bounds. A big hook over the rope on the left. The 34-year-old Canadian is making his Championship debut this week, so that\u2019s not going to calm the nerves.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This opening tee shot is messing with a few heads already. KJ Choi skies his effort 176 yards into thick rough down the left. Even if that was straight it wasn\u2019t reaching the fairway. In the next group, the 2022 champion Cameron Smith somehow manages to be even worse, a mishit low hook fizzing into the same native area, covering just 153 yards. Marco Penge, who came so close at last week\u2019s Scottish Open, also sails way left, though he\u2019s gone 226 yards at least. A lot of people will be mindful of Rory McIlroy\u2019s quadruple-bogey eight start here in 2019. To repeat: OB left, OB right. Is it any wonder?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The morning wave look to have the more favourable conditions compared to the later starters. There are dark clouds rumbling over Portrush right now, but \u201cintermittent rain \u2026 with briefly heavier bursts\u201d is the worst expected this morning. The breeze will pick up though, and there could be a chance of 25-35 mph gusts and possibly \u201cthundery downpours\u201d later this afternoon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Padraig Harrington looks up for this. He turns 54 years of age next month, and if successful this week would become the oldest winner of the oldest major by the best part of eight years. (Old Tom Morris has held that record since 1867.) Having just landed the Senior US Open title, the 2007 and 2008 winner is in form, and you can be sure he thinks he can make history. And why shouldn\u2019t he? From 210 yards he lashes his second pin high to 15 feet, then rolls in the birdie putt! Another huge smile, and those early nerves are all forgotten. The first rumbling roar of the week from the home gallery, and we really are up and running in style. Opening bogey for Tom McKibben, though, the inevitable result of his finding more rough with his second shot.<\/p>\n -1: Harrington (1) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here we go, then \u2026 and the two-time winner Padraig Harrington steps up to hit the first shot of the 153rd Open Championship. Despite everything he\u2019s done in the game \u2013 and he\u2019s the brand-new Senior US Open champion \u2013 he looks pensive, approaching nervous. David Lancaster, the official starter, welcomes him to the tee. Out of bounds left and right. But what\u2019s the worry? He clips an iron straight down the middle, after which his face melts into a huge smile. His playing partners Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard and local lad Tom McKibbin take their turns \u2013 the latter finding the thick stuff down the left \u2013 and four days of glorious links-infused nonsense stretch out in front of us. Here we go, then!<\/p>\n Padraig Harrington of Ireland tees off on the first hole. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.45 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 153rd Open Championship. Xander Schauffele, who saw off Billy Horschel, Justin Rose and Thriston Lawrence at Troon last year, is the defending champion \u2026 and yet because this edition will be contested on the links of Royal Portrush in County Antrim, it kind of feels like Shane Lowry, the winner here in 2019, is defending too. Hey, we don\u2019t write the rules, it just does.<\/p>\n Another Irish winner on home soil, then? Lowry fancies doubling up<\/a>, while course-record holder Rory McIlroy will doubtless think the old place owes him one after that<\/a> quadruple-bogey start in 2019<\/a> and subsequent tearful missed cut. Tom McKibbin, 2007 and 2008 winner Padraig Harrington and 2011 champion Darren Clarke also hear Ireland\u2019s call.<\/p>\n Bob MacIntyre, fresh from his runner-up spot at the US Open, will be aiming to become Scotland\u2019s first major champion since Paul Lawrie in 1999. As for the English, Tommy Fleetwood, second at Portrush six years ago, would be a popular winner as well, while it feels like Tyrrell Hatton is effing and jeffing his way closer and closer to a breakthrough major.<\/p>\n
E: Harrington (3), Migliozzi (2)<\/p>\n
E: Migliozzi (1)<\/p>\n
E: H\u00f8jgaard (1)
+1: McKibben (1)<\/p>\n