Ory McIlroy is firmly in contention to end his long Major drought after a stellar opening round from six under as American Cameron Young finished the first round at the top of the standings at the 150th Open.
Young shot a bogey-free 64 to take the lead at 8-under on the Open debut, two behind McIlroy, who birdied the last hole to take the second line, a shot for the Australian Cameron Smith† He is joined at five-under by the surprising name Robert Dinwiddie, who made just one bogey on the 16th in his lap.
McIlroy only plays his second Open at St Andrews after missing the 2015 edition through injury and is looking for a second Claret pitcherwhich would end his eight-year wait for a Major title.
Playing with the defending champion Collin Morikawa and the in-form Xander Schauffele, the Northern Irishman got off to a perfect start by hitting a 54-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, then made seven birdies and a lone bogey in his 66, his lowest score in the first round on the Open since winning at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
“I played well,” said McIlroy. “Very solid. I think everyone on this course knows you have to make your score come out and I did, in the beginning I started huge with a bit of a bonus. †
World number one Scottie Scheffler started his tournament impressively with a four-under round of 68, placing him in the top five along with Dustin Johnson. Johnson was the 36-hole leader at St Andrews seven years ago before dropping out over the weekend to tie for 49th.
Jordan Spieth made a birdie last that ended in red for the day, while Jon Rahm had an ice cold putter when he posted an opening 73. It was a miserable Thursday for Tiger Woods, at his favorite track in the world. Two of his 15 majors have come to the Home of Golf, but a hat-trick seems almost impossible as he came six-over through seven holes, which was where he ended his round.
A group of players quickly made progress in what is expected to be a low scoring week, with amateur Barclay Brown and Lee Westwood among those in the clubhouse at four-under. Earlier in the day, European Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter was booed on the first tee for his role in LIV Golf’s breakaway, but responded with a flying start.
Poulter is one of 24 rebels who signed up for the Saudi-funded in-field circuit for the final Major of the year and was the first of them to kick off his opening round at the Old Course.
Ian Poulter recovered well from nervous opening
† FATHERThe 46-year-old looked upset by the rough reception as he fired his tee shot well to the left and nearly missed the widest fairway in golf, but recovered to make par and briefly took the full lead at three-under after deflating a mammoth 162 foot eagle putt on the ninth.
There was more positive response to Phil Mickelson, the early LIV poster boy, and even perennial pantomime villain Patrick Reed, who wore a LIV Golf cap and outfit that had the tour’s logos spattered on during yesterday’s practice round. Bryson DeChambeau, another of the front-runners, bounced back from an early dropped shot with a hat-trick of birdies on the first nine, eventually scoring a three-under-69, level with Poulter, Schauffele and Danny Willett.
South African Ernie Els won The Open in 2002 and 2012 and another decade later the years rolled back when he hit the five-under at one point, but the 52-year-old bogeyed on two of the last three holes to to slip back.