The British Open had a little bit of everything Thursday, from sunshine to rain, a breeze to strong gusts. And no surprise, it had Scottie Scheffler never too far from the lead.
Former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick handled the notorious “Calamity Corner” par-3 16th by chipping in for birdie and was among three players from the morning wave who posted a hard-earned 4-under 67 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
Rory McIlroy played in the afternoon — he made bogey on the opening hole before a massive gallery, but that was still three shots better than his start in 2019 — and was among several players making a move on a day that felt like a slog with how long it was taking to play.
During all this was Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player who has not finished out of the top 10 in the last four months, a stretch that includes another major among three wins.
He was satisfied with the day’s work of 68, even while hitting only three of 14 fairways. That statistic stood out to seemingly everyone but Scheffler.
“You’re the second guy that’s mentioned that to me,” Scheffler said. “I actually thought I drove it pretty good. I don’t know what you guys are seeing. When it’s raining sideways, believe it or not [it’s] not that easy to get the ball in the fairway.
“Really only had one swing I wasn’t too happy with on the second hole,” he said. “But outside that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple of rounds.”
There also was a 4-iron to three feet on the 16th for birdie, the start of birdie-birdie-par finish.
But no one could go extremely low. Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, the British Amateur champion last year from Denmark, was the first player to get to 5 under until a bogey at the last. He was joined at 67 by Li Haotong of China, and then Fitzpatrick joined the group with his marvelous chip-in.
Corey Conners, of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian, tied for 98th with a 3-over 74.
Fitzpatrick reached a low point in his game at The Players Championship and appears to be back on track, particularly with what he called a well-rounded game in tough conditions on these links. He is coming off a tie for fourth last week in the Scottish Open.
The chip-in was his highlight, from well below the green to the right, into the cup on the fly.
“A bit of luck, obviously,” Fitzpatrick said. “Sometimes you need that. It just came out a little bit harder than I anticipated and on the perfect line.”
Li might have had the most impressive round, keeping bogeys off his card, by holing a 10-foot par putt on the final hole.
For everyone, the hardest part was staying dressed for the occasion. There were sweaters and then rain suits, and some finished their round in short-sleeved shirts. This is what is meant by “mixed” conditions in the forecast.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele had a mixture of birdies and bogeys that added to an even-par 71. Shane Lowry, the last Open champion at Royal Portrush in 2019, had the nerves of someone hitting the opening tee shot. He handled that beautifully, along with most other shots in the worst of the weather in his round of 70.
And this might just be the start.
“We’re going to get challenging conditions over the next few days,” Lowry said. “Today, for example, the 11th hole was like the worst hole to get the weather we got in. … I think there’s going to be certain times in the tournament where that’s going to happen, and you just need to kind of put your head down and battle through it and see where it leaves you.”
Padraig Harrington, a two-time Open champion, had the honour of the opening tee shot for the 153rd edition of this championship. He made birdie. And then he shot 74.
There was decent scoring. With about three hours left in the opening round, nearly a dozen players were around 3-under par as they headed to the back nine.
But there was trouble brought mainly by the fickle weather. Nico Echavarria found that out on the eighth hole, which during practice he felt was a breeze.
Then came the wind that blew the rain sideways, and no choice but to hit driver to clear thick native grass and reach the fairway.
“It was a super simple hole the practice round,” he said, “and today it felt like it was one of the hardest holes in the world.”
