TROON, Scotland (AP) — The wind caught nearly everybody off guard Thursday within the British Open. It got here from the wrong way off the Irish Sea, accompanied by occasional rain, and made Royal Troon a more durable take a look at than anybody was anticipating.
Seems that wasn’t even the largest shock.
Daniel Brown made his main championship debut a memorable one. He birdied two of the final three holes for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Shane Lowry with simply sufficient spectators left within the Scottish twilight to have a good time his superb day.
It was getting too darkish to take a photograph of his title atop the leaderboard, and that doesn’t curiosity the 29-year-old from England, anyway.
“I’m going to try to preserve my toes on the bottom a bit and tackle the job once more tomorrow,” Brown stated.
A one-time winner on the European tour, he arrived at Royal Troon having didn’t make the lower in seven straight tournaments courting to March till a few good occasions. One was the ultimate qualifying to earn a spot in his first main, the opposite on the Scottish Open when he made the lower and completed 61st.
However this present day was all concerning the wind — sure, it was fierce, but it surely was completely different. As an alternative of gamers attempting to make a rating on the downwind entrance 9 and preserve it collectively on the way in which again, it was powerful from begin to end.
Rory McIlroy actually discovered that to be the case. He shot 78 with a pair of double bogeys. Ditto for U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who went out in 42 on his approach to a 76. Each main is hard on 48-year-old Tiger Woods, who had a 79 for his highest begin in a serious since an 80 within the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
Lowry motored alongside, placing in addition to he has all yr, absorbing the nice and cozy applause all whereas reminding himself it was solely a superb begin and three extra rounds have been forward of him. However he positive knew what to anticipate.
“Luckily sufficient, I got here right here two weeks in the past and I performed this wind on the second day that I performed right here. I noticed the golf course in each wind attainable I may see it,” Lowry stated. “Yeah, I assume that was a superb factor to do, and it’s on the market paying off a little bit bit right this moment.”
Justin Thomas is off to a different nice begin for the second straight week in Scotland, even when his rating doesn’t look that means. He had a 68 — he shot 62 final week within the Scottish Open — and feels as if he performed higher as a result of the misses are extra severely punished at Troon.
The group at 69 included PGA champion Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose, who additionally performed bogey-free with larger appreciation of this Open as a result of he needed to endure 36-hole remaining qualifying simply to get in.
Throw within the occasional rain, and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler discovered it a lot troublesome after battling his approach to a 70.
“I don’t know if complicated is the correct phrase, simply difficult, particularly whenever you get the rain concerned,” Scheffler stated. “If you get a moist ball into the wind, it’s superb how quick it goes. I feel it was No. 2 right this moment, I had 165 to the pin off a slight upslope, and I hit a maintain 5-iron, which for me often goes about 205. It went most likely 155 on the most. And I striped it.”
Lowry, the Open champion at Royal Portrush 5 years in the past, hit his stride across the flip. He birdied the seventh from about 10 toes and hit wedge to 10 toes on the par-3 eighth, the famed “Postage Stamp” that induced a lot injury for a 123-yard gap.
He additionally made two large pars, together with a 25-foot putt on the tenth, earlier than holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the eleventh to succeed in 4 below. Lowry ended his spherical with a wedge to five toes for his 66.
The applause saved getting louder, and Lowry saved reminding himself it was solely Thursday.
“For some cause I felt like he crowd have been getting very excited on the market,” he stated. “It was late within the afternoon — just a few pints of Tennent’s have been had on the market … and it felt extra just like the weekend. I simply saved on telling myself there’s much more to do and there’s just a few days left, so I simply sort of stayed in my lane and hit some good pictures, and I used to be fairly pleased with how I dealt with myself.”
Thomas performed earlier within the day and was at 4 below by means of 11. He simply needed to work exhausting to maintain a superb rating on his card.
His tee shot landed in a bush on the powerful twelfth gap that required a penalty drop, and he missed a 4-foot putt and made double bogey. His subsequent drive took a wild hop into grass so deep his caddie referred to as out to the gallery, “Final name. Anybody see the opposite ball to the correct?” They finally discovered it, but it surely led to bogey.
“A bit of little bit of a hiccup at first of the again 9 however stayed affected person and saved plugging,” Thomas stated.
Certainly, Thomas managed to maintain it collectively. He averted one other bogey with a 12-foot par putt, and completed with a 6-iron to eight toes for birdie on the seventeenth and a birdie on the 18th that confirmed how a lot the wind was serving to — 4-iron off the tee, wedge into 25 toes on the 458-yard closing gap.
Justin Leonard, a winner at Royal Troon in 1997, returned for the primary time since 2016 and was given the respect of the opening tee shot with the shiny claret jug positioned close by on a podium. He had an 80, one in every of 12 rounds of 80 or larger.
McIlroy broke 80, however not by a lot.
He was hopeful of 1 final probability this yr to finish his drought within the majors that dates 10 years. Now McIlroy solely needs to make it to the weekend. He took two to get of a bunker on the Postage Stamp, after which despatched his drive on the eleventh over the railroad tracks and out-of-bounds. He couldn’t clear up the wind.
“You play your observe rounds, and also you attempt to give you a technique that you simply suppose goes to get you across the golf course. Then when the wind is like that different choices current themselves, and also you begin to second-guess your self a little bit bit,” McIlroy stated.
“The circumstances have been powerful on that again 9, and I simply didn’t do a ok job.”
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AP golf:
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