The Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, Day 1 Features Crowded Leaderboard

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England — July 15, 2021

The 149th Open Championship began today at Royal St. George’s on the shores of the English Channel almost due west of Dunkirk. After canceling last year’s event due to the pandemic, golfer’s and golf fans worldwide anxiously awaited the return of the oldest professional golf major to the British Isles.

The course on the outskirts of the town Sandwich, England is hosting its 15th Open Championship. The links-style layout, there is just one tree on the entire 18 holes, will play to 7,189 yards with a par of 70. A single par 5 on each of the nines accounts for the difference from the traditional par 72 scoring standard.

The weather, known to change without notice on the English coast, was very cooperative on opening day. The scores reflected the conditions, 73 players shot par or under.

The Leaders

Louis Oosthuizen continues his exceptional play in majors. After hanging around the top of the leaderboard at the US Open, Oosthuizen is the day 1 leader at the (British) Open Championship with a score of 6 under par. After starting with 7 straight pars, Louis carded 6 birdies over the final 11 holes to stand alone at the top.

Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman are tied for 2nd at 5 under. After opening with pars on the first two holes, Spieth bogeyed the par-3, 3rd hole. Four straight birdies on holes 5 to 8 sent him shooting up the leaderboard early. A bogey-free back nine with birdies on 15 and 16 gave Spieth a round of 65.

Harman birdied 4 of the first 5 holes and another birdie on 8 had him to 5 under par. A bogey at the 9th cost him a stroke. Another bogey on the par-4, 12 had him heading in the wrong direction. However, Harman responded immediately with a birdie on the 13th and he added another on the 18th to tie Spieth at 65 for his opening round.

17 Players Within 3 Strokes of the Lead

Behind the Top 3, the leaderboard is quite crowded. Mackenzie Hughes, Dylan Frittelli, Stewart Cink, Benjamin Hebert, and Webb Simpson all sit at 4 under.

Andy Sullivan, Justin Harding, Danny Willett, Jack Senior, Justin Rose, Scottie Scheffler, Byeong Hun An, Collin Morikawa, Marcel Siem, and Tommy Fleetwood are all tied for 9th at -3.

Another 13 golfers are tied for 19th at 2 under, including world #1 Dustin Johnson, and the ever-popular. Sergio Garcia. Notables Brooks Koepka(-1), Rickie Fowler(1), Tony Finau(E), and Rory McIlroy(E) are in contention after Round 1.

Where are Those Guys

Bryson DeChambeau made headlines, not for his score (+1) but for his equipment critique. “That’s what I said yesterday or a couple days ago: If I can hit it down the middle of the fairway, that’s great, but with the driver right now, the driver sucks,” DeChambeau said.

After finding the fairway on only 4 of his 14 tee shots, DeChambeau was understandably upset. But, trashing one of your sponsors may not be the best way to express your feelings. A Cobra golf club rep likened Bryson’s outburst to an “8-year-old that gets mad at you.”

Jon Rahm(+1), Justin Thomas(+2), Patrick Reed(+2), Patrick Cantlay(+4), and Jason Day(+5) posted disappointing 1st-day scores. Phil Mickelson won’t be reproducing any of the magic he displayed in winning the PGA Championship earlier this year. He also won’t be playing on the weekend after finishing tied for last place (155th) with a score of 80, 10 strokes over par.

Highlights

Day One Leaderboard at the 149th Open Championship