McIlroy and DeChambeau among big names to struggle on Thursday at The Open as Troon shows its teeth

Rory McIlroy was one of many big names to struggle on Thursday at The Open

The US Open protagonists were among the many stars to come out second best on Thursday at The Open and will need a strong showing on Friday to make the weekend.

Rory McIlroy bounced back to a fourth-place finish at last week’s Scottish Open after a self-imposed exile to reset after his Pinehurst collapse. That was as far as the momentum stretched however as he spiraled to an eight-over-par 78 on Thursday at The Open.

The Northern Irishman was going along nicely in miserable conditions at Royal Troon before being derailed at the iconic ‘Postage Stamp’ par 3 – the shortest hole in Open Championship history. It’s a game of fine margins at this level and McIlroy’s approach was inches away from leaving him with a very makeable birdie putt. Instead, he watched his ball trickle back into a greenside bunker which he needed two stabs at before a further two putts to stamp a double-bogey on the card.

A bogey, double-bogey start to his back nine compounded errors for McIlroy as the crosswinds continued to cause him problems, and two further bogeys down the stretch rounded off a thoroughly disappointing day.

“I’ve come in here playing really well. I played well at The Renaissance last week, said McIlroy.

“I think, if anything, it was more like the conditions got the better of me, those cross-winds. I have to do a better job in those conditions, and I need to go out there and play better and try to shoot something under par and at least be here for the weekend, if not try to put myself up the leaderboard a bit more and feel like I have half a chance.”

The day wasn’t notably brighter for his Pinehurst conquerer either. The newly crowned US Open Champion, who revealed this week a new equipment venture with LA Golf, had a front nine to forget, and be it not for an eagle at the 16th, would have matched McIlroy on seven over.

After signing off for a 76, DeChambeau said: “Yeah, it’s a difficult test out here. Something I’m not familiar with. I never grew up playing it, and not to say that that’s the reason; I finished eighth at St Andrews. I can do it when it’s warm and not windy.”

Luckily for him, Friday’s second round is set to get underway in much more pleasant conditions and will give him a few fewer headaches when it comes to dissecting the nuances that define his marginal gains approach to the game.

“I’m going to go figure it out. It’s something equipment-related. I’m not at 190 ball speed, so particularly when I’m hitting driver or 3-wood, those clubs are built for around that speed, so in colder, firmer conditions the golf ball is not compressing as much. So it’s probably something along those lines,” he added.

Rory and Bryson were far from the star attractions to struggle, however, with Royal Troon taking some big scalps on Thursday including Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa, Sam Burns, Will Zalatoris, and Tom Kim – all finishing five over and in need of a more productive Friday.

So too will Tiger Woods who battled hard down the back nine to salvage something from his round that collapsed from the fourth hole and did little to refute Colin Mongomerie’s belief that Woods should call time on his playing career.

“There is none of that now. At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either,” said Montgomerie.

Tiger signed for a 79, rounding off a miserable day by missing a five-footer for par on the last. The 15-time Major winner was unable to even crack a smile walking up the 18th to cheers of appreciation from the grandstand. Montgomerie was right, it didn’t look fun, and if there was ever a day to prove he could compete at the top level again, today’s leveling conditions perhaps represented his best chance.

“I didn’t do a whole lot of things right today. I didn’t hit my irons very close, and I didn’t give myself a whole lot of looks today, said Tiger.

“I need to shoot something in the mid-60s tomorrow to get something going on the weekend.”

Other notable names to struggle on day one:

Henrik Stenson +6

Sahith Theegala +6

Wyndham Clark +7

Rickie Fowler +8

Cameron Smith +9

About the author

Ross Tugwood

Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.