An Amateur Leads The Open Championship After Day One

Royal Liverpool Golf Course, Hoylake, Wirral, England — July 20, 2023

The 151st Open Championship (British Open) teed off at 1:35 am Eastern time (6:35 am local time) at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course. Early morning starters were just finishing up as American workers were finishing their first cup of coffee at the office.

If you tuned in at that time, you might have been surprised to see an amateur at the top of the leaderboard. Christo Lamprecht, from South Africa, carded a five-under-par 66 to set the early pace. Lamprecht, the Georgia Tech collegiate, is not hard to spot on the course. He stands six foot, eight inches tall. He won this year’s Amateur Championship (British) and is currently ranked third in the world among men’s amateur golfers.

Tommy Fleetwood joined Lamprecht as the leader in the clubhouse two hours later. Fleetwood, two under par after 11 holes, made three birdies in a row on 14,15,16 to match the leader at five under.

Stewart Cink and Wyndham Clark, two other morning starters, shot three under 68 to sit two strokes off the lead.

Rickie Fowler, the Rocket Mortgage Classic champion, fashioned a competitive round sitting two under par after 17 holes. A score that would have tied him for fifth at the time. A birdie on the par-five 18 would have put him in the middle of the mix.

Unfortunately, Fowler hit two consecutive shots out of bounds, where the hole narrows drastically at the green. A triple bogey eight dropped him to one over par and in a tie for 50th.

Many of the game’s biggest names were set to play in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day at Hoylake, by British standards, with mostly clear blue skies, temperatures in the low 60s F, winds at 12-14 mph, and occasional gusts slightly higher.

Late Starters

Surprisingly the golfers who teed off later in the day at Royal Liverpool did not light up the leaderboard with low scores, given the favorable weather. Emiliano Grillo started with bogeys on the first and third holes. He got back to even par with two birdies on the front side. Then Grillo made five birdies on the back nine to tie for the lead at five under.

Antoine Rozner and Adrian Otaegui each combined six birdies with two bogeys to finish at four under. Brian Harman joined the group in a tie for the fourth position.

It was not a great day for the stars of the PGA tour, as the course took its toll on big names. Max Homa managed to card a score of three under, and Jordan Spieth two under. A group of 14 players came in at one under. It included Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland, and Scottie Scheffler.

Pre-tournament favorite Rory McIlroy struggled to a score of even par 71 and sits five strokes off the lead. Defending Open Champion Cameron Smith paired four birdies with five bogeys to sit at one over for the opening day.

World number three, Jon Rahm shot three over and is eight strokes back. He will have some work to do to avoid missing the cut tomorrow. Justin Thomas made a nine on the 18th and counted up 82 stories to drop to the bottom of the standings. He will be packing his bags for a quick exit after Friday’s round.

Leaderboard