JB Holmes Leads the Open Championship, Tiger and Rory Blow Up on Day 1

Royal Portrush Golf Club, Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland — July 18, 2019

The 148th edition of The Open is being played this year at Royal Portrush Golf Club on the Dunluce course. Formed in 1888, the layout is considered one of the finest links courses in the world.

Open Championship

Just to be clear, if you are on the other side of the pond this tournament is called the “Open Championship.” Note the lower case “t” in “the,” signifies it is not a part of the official name. We used to call it the “British Open,” heaven forbid. Yes, the Brits invented the game, built the first courses, and held the first open tournament. The U.S. Open is named to differentiate itself from the open held in the UK.

Even calling it “The Open” gets under the skin of purists at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the keepers of everything that is sacred in golf. But, we will persist in using that terminology with a few Open Championship references thrown in. Just in case I make it over to the isles to cover it live at some point.

Tiger and Rory

Two of the biggest names in the field of 156 golfers, likely played themselves out of the tournament on Day 1. Tiger Woods was right when he said his game was not ready for The Open. He shot seven over par, tied for 144th and sure to miss the cut after tomorrow’s round.

Rory McIlroy quadruple bogeyed the first hole and was four over par heading to the 2nd hole. He probably should have turned around headed back to the clubhouse. A bogey on the 3rd was followed by birdies on seven and nine. But, a double bogey on the par-three 16th and a triple bogey on the par-four 18th left him eight over par for the day, tied for 150th.

The Worst Round of the Day

David Duval won the Open Championship in 2001 and was ranked number one in the world. Duval posted a round of 20 over par. He started with birdies on the first two holes. A quadruple-bogey eight on the par-four 5th hole was not the highest number he had to record for the day. He carded 14 strokes on the par-five 7th hole when he played the wrong ball through the hole and essentially had to play the hole over.

Round 1 Leader

JB Holmes is the first-round leader. A bogey combined with six birdies gave him a score of 66, five under on the day.

Shane Lowry in one stroke back at four under. Thirteen players are tied for third at three-under. Including favorites Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood, Tony Finau, John Rahm, Webb Simpson, and Sergio Garcia.

Other Notables

Jordan Spieth is one under, tied for 20th, along with Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar. Dustin Johnson is one over par and tied for 54th. Bubba Watson and Paul Casey joined Johnson in the group scoring 72 on Day 1. Phil Mickelson is 10 strokes out of the lead after shooting a five-over-par 76.

Leader Board

Look to The Lasco Press for complete round-by-round of The Open through Sunday’s Final Round.