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Gareth Hanna and Adam McKendry
Today at 10:24
After somehow steering his first round at The Open to an under-par finish despite struggles off the tee that saw him ranked joint last for driving accuracy at Royal Portrush on Thursday, Rory McIlroy will look to take advantage
The Masters champion is one under, just three behind a quintet of leaders heading into Friday’s second round.
McIlroy leads the early wave of starters on day two as he, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas head out in the marquee group, with players such as Ludvig Aberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth also out this morning.
Rory McIlroy arrives for his second round on Friday morning
The Open Day One – Paul Kimmage, Brian Keogh and Conor McKeon bring you their take on an emotional first day for the Irish at Portrush
Of the leaders, only Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Harris English are out in the morning wave, with Matthew Fitzpatrick, Haotong Li and Jacob Skov Olesen to come in the afternoon, while World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Offaly’s Shane Lowry the headliners after 3pm.
Holywood’s Tom McKibbin goes off at 11.29am having carded a one-over-par 72, alongside Padraig Harrington who fired a 75 on day one which was the same score as Dungannon’s Darren Clarke.
Follow along with all the week’s action right here on our blog:
Key updates
Player slates opening round time management
Steven Beacom on day one: Rory’s an emotional rollercoaster
What Rory said after an opening one-under 70
‘Here’s Bryson to make another b***ls of it’
The things you overhear as DeChambeau takes to the tee in an attempt to make the cut. He finished yesterday at 7 (seven) over par – five shots behind the cut-line as it currently stands. At least he’s got his first tee-shot down the middle, with playing partners Bob MacIntyre (E) and Justin Rose (-2) doing the same.
Leishman with the low round?
World number 446 Marc Leishman is in line to shoot the lowest round of the week so far as he hits -5 for the day with birdie at the par five 12th. He’s now four under for his last six holes and on an absolute rampage. Just one behind the lead.
Golf.
Shaun Norris has followed up his ten on the fourth by driving the par-four fifth and two-putting from 110 feet for a birdie three.
Because golf.
Quoted messageTEN SHOTS
We never delight in someone struggling on the golf course but sometimes it’s also reassuring to see that the pros are just like us.
Case in the point is the unfortunate Shaun Norris who has just hit double-figures on the par-four 10th, finally getting the ball in the hole with his TENTH stroke for a six-over-par score on one hole and to fall from +1 to +7.
How did it happen? Well, his drive was pushed right out of bounds for a start, then he had a nightmare after hitting his third shot into the fairway bunker as he failed to get out of it at his first three attempts before finally hacking it onto the fairway.
He was actually lucky to finish with a ten because he didn’t hit the green with his eighth shot, but a smart up-and-down finally sees him in the hole.
Ouch.
Hot start for a former champ
As if to compound Niemann’s misery after his OB disaster, it’s playing partner Brian Harman who has the perfect start as he fires a peach of an approach into the opening hole that bounces about 10 feet short and then checks up to two feet for what should be a kick-in birdie for the 2023 Champion Golfer of the Year. That will take him up to -3 and one off the lead.
The lefty has a link to Northern Ireland as his coach, Justin Parsons, hails from these shores.
First OB of the day at oneRory, shield your eyes! Joaquin Niemann shows how easy it is to whip the tee shot left off the first and it trundles agonisingly past the white stakes and out of bounds. The Chilean was -1 after yesterday…. he won’t be, shortly.
Edit: He finished up with a double bogey six, while his playing partner Brian Harman has gone the other way – opening with birdie to close to within one of the lead at -3
TEN SHOTS
We never delight in someone struggling on the golf course but sometimes it’s also reassuring to see that the pros are just like us.
Case in the point is the unfortunate Shaun Norris who has just hit double-figures on the par-four 10th, finally getting the ball in the hole with his TENTH stroke for a six-over-par score on one hole and to fall from +1 to +7.
How did it happen? Well, his drive was pushed right out of bounds for a start, then he had a nightmare after hitting his third shot into the fairway bunker as he failed to get out of it at his first three attempts before finally hacking it onto the fairway.
He was actually lucky to finish with a ten because he didn’t hit the green with his eighth shot, but a smart up-and-down finally sees him in the hole.
Ouch.
Rory on the range
McIlroy is currently hitting wedges down on the range with under and hour until his 10.09am tee-time. The grandstand at the first tee, meanwhile, is back to capacity as fans get their spots early to make sure they don’t miss the start to the world number two’s round.
Bez back on top
Christiaan Bezuidenhout wasn’t out of the lead for long as he bounces back from a bogey at the first with a birdie at the par-five second, as expected, and returns into that five-way share of the lead at -4.
There’s also a birdie on the same hole for Bezuidenhout’s playing partner Rasmus Højgaard, who shot a two-under 69 just like brother Nicolai yesterday but has now moved ahead of his sibling and one shot off the lead to -3.
It wasn’t due to rain at Portrush until 11am but it’s already started to spit here – it would be nice if the bad weather would stay away for a little longer but I think this might be the start of what is to come today!
Rory watch returns
Don’t worry, Adam isn’t scampering around the course (yet!) looking for McIlroy, we know he tees off at 10.09am which, coincidentally for this post, is in exactly an hour’s time!
The bigger question is how low can he go? If he could post the lowest score in the clubhouse when he finishes, you feel that would be a good outcome. Although after 2019 making sure he’s in for the weekend might be cause for celebration enough!
Making his Marc
And another birdie for the Australian Leishman at the 10th – that’s back-to-back birdies in the opening group and he’s up to -2, just two back of the lead quartet and he has a real chance of posting a low number for the rest of the field to chase for the remainder of the day.
O captain, my captain
Right, let’s have a poll, how well does Keegan Bradley have to play this week to convince himself he should be on the American Ryder Cup team and not the captain? (Or playing captain, but we know how well that goes…)
He’s certainly started today well as he loops in a lengthy putt for eagle at the par-five second to move up to one-under-par! A few more of those and he might have to give Tiger Woods a call…
Un-Leish the beast
I said earlier with Zach Johnson that someone always makes a run from the first couple of groups and while I had the wrong player initially (ZJ is now three-over for the day and +1 for the tournament), the overall point was correct because Marc Leishman has just made the turn in 33 strokes to climb into the red.
The Australian, who finished second at St Andrews in 2015 and had top-fives in 2014 and 2017 too, birdied the seventh and ninth to move three-under-par for the day and is up to -1, three shots off the lead.
Four-way tie for the lead
Overnight leader Christiaan Bezuidenhout nearly pushed his opening tee shot out of bounds on the first hole at Royal Portrush and that precedes an opening bogey for the South African, a thick lie in the rough off that tee shot meaning he can only hack it short of the green and then he fails to make up-and-down, leaving his putt both short and left. Bezuidenhout drops to -3.
And then there were four. At four. Under, that is.
Rory is here
He’s just been spotted entering the premises with his manager Niall O’Connor, formerly of Ulster Rugby fame, and he greets coach Michael Bannon with a warm handshake before entering the Players’ Clubhouse beside the main Royal Portrush clubhouse.
The fifth green is on
Rickie Fowler and amateur Ethan Fang, who’s -2 for his opening four and +2 for the week – have both smashed their drives onto the middle of the green at the 382-yard, downhill par four. The breeze is behind again there today – making it an exciting place to watch.
Who to watch early on Friday
If you’re just arriving at the course for Friday’s play, there are plenty of big names out there. Rickie Fowler is out playing the picturesque fifth. He’s one over par for the day – one under for the week – after bogey on the par three third. And Garcia is in the group behind on four, having returned to level par for the week with a bounce back birdie at the second. Following them is Matt Wallace, Matt Wallace, opening his day with two pars to stay +2.
Sure Portrush is easy
There’s a whopping FIVE players under-par this morning in the nine groups on the course (for those struggling with the maths, that’s 27 players).
Amateur champion Ethan Fang is the best on the course right now as he’s put together back-to-back birdies at the second and third to reach two-under for the day and back to two-over for the tournament.
Player slates opening round time managementScottish player Daniel Young finished late last night in front of a handful of fans left in the grandstand, watching on in the dusk. There was even a Scottish flag draped over the edge of the stand for his arrival at the green. But it all coming almost six hours after he teed off at the first, left him ticked off as he signed for a four over 75.
He said: “There was another group behind us as well. I think it’s one of those where they just want your round. When it’s taking six hours as well, it’s pretty rough. I don’t know, there was no refs talking to anybody I think about pace of play and stuff, which is probably disappointing, why it’s taking six hours I guess. It’s one of those things. I don’t know what to say. None of us saw any of the tee shots on 18 there. Yeah, there was nobody. Yeah, pretty disappointed, a bit deflated at the minute, to be honest.”
Friday weather forecast
Bring your umbrellas folks, it’s going to be another wet one. Fortunately the weather is due to improve on Saturday and Sunday.
Tough start for Sergio
The Spaniard had got in and one under par yesterday but it’s a nightmare opening hole as he cards a double bogey six to plunge the wrong side of par for the tournament. Again the problem was missing the fairway to the left. Then he found the troublesome front pot bunker and with the flag back left, it’s a long shot out of the sand. He couldn’t find the green from there, or get up and down with his chip. Half a dozen.
Rory McIlroy arrives for his second round on Friday morning
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