Everything you missed from Thursday at the 2024 British Open Championship
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We’re on the ground at the British Open this week, bringing you all the action you missed from the first tournament day at Royal Troon.
The 152nd British Open got underway this morning, with the Scottish weather giving the players a rather wet test for their first round. Umbrellas and waterproofs were everywhere to be seen, with the rain closing in across the Firth of Clyde well before Justin Leonard hit the first tee shot of the 2024 Championship.
Here’s a rundown of everything you missed from the first day’s play.
Rahm’s fighting weight
Jon Rahm headed into his Open bid looking trim. The Spaniard’s caddie, Adam Hayes, confirmed his boss had “lost a little bit” ahead of his arrival at Troon as Digital Editor Rob Jerram chatted with him on the practice green. Interesting to see Rahm still rocking Cuater shoes despite the name being no more. The two-time Major champion is wearing the Ringer model, which have been replaced by Ringer II.
Life’s a beach
Australian amateur Jasper Stubbs will have gone to bed dreaming of making a fast start on his Open debut. Unfortunately, dreams rarely come true and, as the rain poured down, he pushed his tee shot on the par-4 1st hole out of bounds towards the beach, eventually walking off with a double-bogey.
Unhappy Hatton
Tyrrell Hatton is rarely the most smiley of characters, but the Englishman hadn’t even got his Open underway before the scowls had arrived. The LIV Golf star was bemoaning the speed of the practice green for the second consecutive day (“f*cking slow greens”), and pinching the bridge of his nose before heading for the 1st tee. And that was before the heavens had opened.
Flying start… crash landing
Matt Wallace produced the first eagle of the 152nd Open Championship after holing out from 84 yards on the 4th hole, a 600-yard par 5. The Englishman topped the leaderboard at 4-under through eight before sticking his approach at the 9th into a bush and racking up a triple bogey.
Running man
Renowned putting coach Phil Kenyon always faces a busy week at the Majors as he looks to keep all of his clients happy… and it’s not been made any easier by the logistics. He was a man on a mission as he sprinted past Digital Editor Rob on his way to the practice ground.
“This is the issue when there’s two putting greens! At least it’ll keep me fit,” the Englishman laughed as we chatted after he’d finished Tommy Fleetwood’s prep.
Open return
Unlike Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie Ian Finnis was all smiles as readied himself for the first round. It’s Finno’s first Major of the year on his close friend’s bag having returned from open heart surgery at last week’s Scottish Open. Read my exclusive chat with the English bag man.
Fond memories for Frankie
Francesco Molinari knows how to get the crowd onside. Already a huge fan favorite, the 2018 champion was rocking his 2018 Team Europe Ryder Cup rain jacket once the heavens opened at Troon. If he plays as well this week as he played at Le Golf National, when he became the first European to win all five matches, he’ll be in with a great chance adding another Claret Jug to his collection.
Wardrobe woes
Rahm and Hatton are rocking their LIV Golf Legion XIII team colors this week – made by TravisMathew, who, coincidentally, also supply all of our team’s clothing! It’s just a shame Tyrrell and I hadn’t discussed our Thursday scripting as we found ourselves standing side-by-side on the practice green wearing matching burgundy jumpers.
What a shanker
While we are all here to see the best players in the world hit amazing shots, it’s always reassuring when they do something disastrous. It makes us feel better about our own games. Todd Hamilton, winner of the 2004 Open here at Troon, gave us that moment in the opening round as he found the greenside bunker at the 3rd and then hit a shank into the lip as he stumbled to a triple. He finished 11-over on day one.
Henley’s all of us
Are you really a golfer if you don’t swing random objects like a golf club while carrying them? Russell Henley plays the game for a living, but as he exited his shuttle from the practice ground to the 1st tee the American stood in the road outside the media center gripping and regripping his umbrella handle before checking his backswing positions.
Five from five for Finau
Good to see Tony Finau following my pre-round routine. The Ryder Cup star walked onto the practice green a couple of minutes before he was due to get his first round underway, hit five putts, and then dashed to the 1st tee. Unlike me, he holed all five of the putts and started his round with a string of trouble-free pars.
Confusing leaderboard
A small moan, but I’ve no idea why The Open have chosen to mark pars in blue and bogeys in grey on this year’s player scorecards. It has made for some serious confusion in the media center with a host of us mistaking pars for bogeys and bogeys for pars.
Last-minute tweaks
Jordan Spieth waited until the very last minute before finalising his equipment for the opening round.
“We’ve still got 15 clubs in the bag right now… we’ll see what he wants to take out in a minute,” caddie Michael Greller told officials on the practice green just a short time before the 2017 champ was due on the tee. Fingers crossed they remember… we don’t want another Woosie moment on our hands.
Bloomin’ good round for Rose
Justin Rose had a spectacular opening round, no dropped shots and two birdies on holes 3 and 7 left him with a bogey-free opening round of 69.
“Bogey-free is probably the thing I’m happiest about. Obviously, we all walk off a golf course going, oh, it could have been better, but I actually felt like there was three or four out there for me today had I been a little bit warmer with the putter.”
Is the wind taking the famous coffin bunker out of play?
With the first seven holes at Royal Troon playing in a south and south-east direction, the 8th hole, the notorious ‘postage stamp’, marks the first time the players will be teeing off towards the west. The wind today is blowing from the south, making it a cross-wind from the left on the famous hole. At the time of writing, no player has missed the green to the left, meaning the coffin bunker is yet to kill anyone’s spirits. Is it skill, or are they underestimating the strength of the gusts?
Rose commented after his round, “You play the whole golf course wind off the right. You get on to the 8th, it’s suddenly off the left. There’s a bit more to take in.”
Happy Gilmore makes an appearance on the 9th… sort of
Anyone familiar with the Adam Sandler movie will know the ‘secret of the pros’, the 9th green at 9, right? England’s Dan Bradbury took this concept quite literally, shooting a 9 on the 447-yard par 4. The DP World Tour player only turned professional 2 years ago, and won his first event, the Joburg Open, on his third professional start.
Birdies galore for JT
Justin Thomas racked up seven birdies on his way to an opening round 68. Last time the American played at Royal Troon in 2016 he started with seven birdies in round one and posted 67. That round was followed by a 77, 74, and 73 which resulted in him finishing in T53. I’m sure he’ll be hoping for a better finish this week.
Invite for inspirational Hendry
New Zealand golfer Michael Hendry got his re-scheduled Open Championship underway via an invite from the R&A, one year after withdrawing from Royal Liverpool due to a cancer diagnosis.
After an opening round of 74 (+3) on Thursday, Hendry said: “It was incredible. Words can’t really describe how grateful I am, not only to the R&A but to all of the doctors and nurses who have helped me over the last 12 months. It was extremely special. This is one thing that really got me through my recovery. To finally be here and teeing it up was extremely special.”
Birds flying high
American Sean Crocker, who has one win on the DP World Tour, holed out for birdie on the 238 yard par 3 17th hole from the greenside bunker that sits 23ft below green level.
Spanish Ace
Amateur Jaime Montojo eagled the first hole from a 234-yard drive. Left with 132-yards into the pin, the Spaniard’s ball took a couple of bounces and disappeared into the cup. -2 after one hole isn’t a score you see every day!
Accuracy is key
Hitting the fairway is hugely important – On the 7th hole Bob MacIntyre found the fairway and was 43 yards ahead of Jon Rahm, who has missed the short stuff. Even though in a long drive competition I’m sure Bob wouldn’t stand a chance against the Spaniard.
McIlroy won’t make it as a meteorologist
Reflecting on his round with the media, Rory said “The conditions look like they’re going to be pretty similar again tomorrow.” Not sure what forecast he was looking at, but the conditions for Friday’s tee times look to be sunny most of the day. A far cry from the wind and rain we experienced today.
Romain Langasque withdraws
After a fat tee shot on the ‘postage stamp’ followed by a thin second shot, Langasque withdrew from the tournament with a back injury. His scorecard had taken a hit with bogeys on 4, 5 and 7, and the French DP world Tour player had to walk away after the 8th hole. Come to think of it, we did see him in the Open Shop earlier in the week… maybe he was carrying too many bags of merchandise.
Shot of the day for Dean
LIV Golfer Dean Bermester had what is arguably the shot off the day on the 16th. After hitting a 358-yard tee shot, and a 196-yard second shot ending up in the greenside bunker, Bermester’s third shot took one bounce and went straight it for an eagle, getting him back to level par for the round.
“On 17 on my second shot, blocking it in the bunker, wasn’t ecstatic, but that gave me an amazing moment I won’t forget. It was really cool to have a full grandstand there, and to hit a shot, have it one-bounce in the hole was cool.”
Donald has his say on Bradley Ryder Cup appointment
It might be Open week, but that hasn’t stopped talk turning to the Ryder Cup and Luke Donald sharing his thoughts on Keegan Bradley’s appointment as Team USA’s captain.
“It was surprising because he is still playing at a very high level of golf, he’s in the top 20 in the world, won last year and the year before,” the former World No.1 said.
“He had every chance to be on the team in Rome last year. I think we could all say he was unlucky and could have certainly been picked to be on that team.”
“But in a certain way he’s very passionate about the Ryder Cup… and I’m sure he will bring that passion to his captaincy. I also know him well, so it will be nice to enjoy the next 14 months together as we head to New York.”
Unprofessional, Mark
“You look at the eyes, you’ve got to think there’s a lot of painkillers being taken.”
Not the line you expect from a former European Tour player turned tv pundit. But that’s exactly what Mark Roe said as he was commentating on Tiger’s group. Needless to say, his remarks have come under fire from the general public with comments of disgust pouring in on social media.
Phil McCrackin gets in touch with Open Radio
Yes, you read that right. Open Radio, who broadcast live from the course, had a message from a listener called Phil McCrackin saying he was enjoying the coverage. Whether that’s his actual name… well, your guess is as good as ours.
Was the wind a help or hinderance for the early starters?
The wind was howling for the early starters with the likes of Justin Thomas and Justin Rose battling 15-20 mph winds. The first seven holes were all played into a stiff breeze into and off the right, but the late starters wouldn’t have known anything about that! They had no wind to contend with.
However, that did mean they had no assistance after the turn. I’d argue it was a level playing field but I’m sure some early starters will be feeling hard done by.
Spieth putting in hours on the green
Ahead of his first round tee time Jordan Spieth had been working very hard on the putting green. After his practice rounds we’ve seen him going through his drills on the practice area. This morning he arrived at the course over two hours before his tee time to begin his warm up and a bulk of that time was spent on the putting green.
I suppose the question is whether it’s helped? He held a putt for eagle and finished the day at even par. He left a few putts out there, but he’s in a good position heading into Friday. I wonder what time he’ll arrive at the course tomorrow ahead of his second round tee time?
Lowest amateur
Despite the weather calming down in the afternoon, the lowest amateur after day 1 is Calum Scott. The Scotsman showing how accustomed to the adverse weather conditions he is posting an even par 71.
Open debutant leads after round one
Daniel Brown hadn’t qualified for the 152nd British Open Championship three weeks ago. Now, the 29-year-old Englishman leads on his Major debut after a stunning opening 65 at Royal Troon.
Brown, who openly admits he used to hate the style of the links golf, started playing well on links courses this season. He booked his place in the year’s final men’s Major at Final Qualifying, holing a 20-foot putt to avoid a play-off at the 36-hole event at West Lancashire on July 2.
About the author
Sarah Pyett – Deputy Digital Editor
Sarah Pyett is the Deputy Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com. She plays off a handicap of 4, and specializes in ladies’ equipment reviews, including drivers, irons, and golf balls.
After a career in a golf professional shop, and earning a qualification in golf club management, Sarah joined Bauer in 2014 as a Web Producer for Today’s Golfer. She has since worked across multiple brands in a mixture of digital marketing and paid media roles, before returning to focus on golf full-time as Deputy Digital Editor in 2024.
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All the action from the first day of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon
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Jordan Spieth spent a long time on the practice ground on the first day of the 2024 British Open Championship
