The British Open is off and running at Royal Troon, and Daniel Brown is out in front early.
Brown, who is playing in his first ever major championship, posted a bogey-free 65 to kick off the British Open on Thursday afternoon in Scotland. He made two birdies in his last three holes, including a clutch birdie at the 18th after barely missing a fairway bunker, to overtake Shane Lowry and grab a one-shot lead over the rest of the field.
Lowry looked like he was going to hold the overnight lead for much of the round. The Irishman posted a bogey-free 66 to grab the early lead on Thursday afternoon in what was his best start at a major championship in his career. Though it's still very early, it immediately brought flashbacks of his 2019 Open win at Royal Portrush.
Justin Thomas is alone in third after his 3-under start in the early wave. Seven golfers are tied at 2-under, including Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose.
Woods, along with Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, will have to fight to see the weekend. McIlroy and DeChambeau were only a few shots better than Woods after they stumbled hard in the early wave.
4:25 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay
4:47 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith, Matt Fitzpatrick
4:58 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young
6:04 a.m. — Daniel Brown, Denwit David Boriboonsub, Matthew Dodd-Berry (a)
7:53 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Sungjae Im, Matthew Southgate
9:37 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre
9:48 a.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Tom Kim
10:10 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton
Ryan Young
Leaderboard Update
With the first round in the books, here's where things stand at Royal Troon.
Leaderboard
1. Daniel Brown (-6)
2. Shane Lowry (-5)
3. Justin Thomas (-3)
T4. Alex Noren (-2)
T4. Nicolai Hojgaard
T4. Justin Rose
T4. Russell Henley
T4. Xander Schauffele
T4. Mackenzie Hughes
T4. Joe Dean
Ryan Young
Daniel Brown takes solo lead
And just like that, Daniel Brown is the solo leader at the British Open. He's posted a bogey-free 65 in his first ever major championship start to overtake Shane Lowry and grab a one-shot lead.
Daniel Brown is back to 5-under after a clutch birdie at the par-5 16th. If he can card a birdie in his final two holes, he'll be the overnight leader at Royal Troon.
Meet Daniel Brown, the man who sits solo second @TheOpen:
🏴 29-year-old Englishman 📊 Ranked 273rd in Official World Golf Ranking 🏆 Won on @DPWorldTour in 2023 3️⃣ Making third career PGA TOUR start 📈 Made cut last week @ScottishOpen 💪 Had a successful amateur career winning… pic.twitter.com/lfnk0aGP9w
Now that's the perfect finish for Shane Lowry. He posted a bogey-free 66, including a birdie at the 18th, to grab the solo lead at 5-under as he enters the clubhouse.
Well, that's back-to-back bogeys for Tiger Woods to close out his day. He's finished with an 8-over 79.
Woods will need a huge round on Friday in order to see the weekend, something he's seen only once so far in 2024.
Click the photo to read about Tiger Woods' opening round at the British Open. (Photo by Glyn Kirk/AFP)
Ryan Young
Daniel Brown joins Shane Lowry at 4-under
After carding back-to-back birdies at the turn, Daniel Brown has now joined Shane Lowry in the lead. Brown, who entered the week at No. 272 in the OWGR, picked up his first DP World Tour win last fall.
Tiger Woods played this one perfectly from the deep greenside bunker to save his par. Unfortunately, he's still at 6-over on the day as he heads to the 17th tee.
This is a huge reason why Shane Lowry is holding onto his lead. He sank an 11-footer for par at the 12th, and a nearly 24-footer to save his par at the 10th.
Shane Lowry has made five par putts of at least 6 feet in his round so far.
Tiger Woods' day isn't getting any better. He just carded his second straight birdie on the back nine after sending his approach way left of the green on the par-4 12th. He's at 7-over on the day now, which is a full 10 shots back of the leaders.
It's looking like another short week for Woods.
Ryan Young
Rory, Bryson struggle early
After their wild battle in North Carolina last month, neither Bryson DeChambeau nor Rory McIlroy played well this morning at Royal Troon. DeChambeau carded a 5-over 76, and McIlroy finished at 7-over.
Click the photo to read more about their rough start in Scotland.
Click the photo to read more about Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy's rough starts in Scotland. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Yahoo Sports Staff
Welcome to the lead, Xander Schauffele
The 2024 PGA Championship winner is now at the top of the yellow leaderboard at the British Open. With a birdie on the par-5 11th, the Railway Hole, Schauffele connected on a long put to join Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas at 3-under.
Xander Schauffele ties the lead with a 36-foot birdie putt. 👀
The 2019 British Open champion got the 3-under thru 8 after a birdie at the Postage Stamp. Lowry is bogey-free on the day to this point with birdies on 4, 7 and 8. He took home the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush five years ago, and is off to a good start as he tries to win it again.
2019 Open champion Shane Lowry ties the lead (-3) with a birdie on 8. 🇮🇪
The Postage Stamp has been nothing short of entertaining, and that's going in all directions, from Patrick Cantlay's great birdie out of the sand (see below) to Collin Morikawa's double bogey odyssey. He missed the green, and then came up short with a chip that rolled into the bunker. Then, he couldn't get out of the trap in just one shot, and he wound up making a 5 on the 118-yard par 3. One of the most famous holes in golf is turning out to be one of the wildest today.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Cantlay holes out from the sand at the 'Postage Stamp'
How good is this from Patrick Cantlay? Looked like a 2 all the way. 🐥
Patrick Cantlay delivers a birdie from the bunker on the Postage Stamp 8th hole! 📬
After getting to 1-under thru 3 holes, Tiger Woods has found trouble throughout the rest of the front 9, playing holes 4 through 8 in 5-over. Woods has been missing greens and has had a couple of wobbles on the putting green as well, with a couple of three-putts adding to his inflated score early.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Koepka's birdie streak ends at the 'Postage Stamp'
Brooks found one of the greenside bunkers, but was able to stick it close out of the wet sand in the soggy conditions at Royal Troon to set up a tap in par. Koepka has certainly righted the ship after a couple of early bogeys to get to 2-under, just a shot off Justin Thomas' clubhouse lead
Yahoo Sports Staff
How's this for the first hole of your first Open?
Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo, who finished up his second season at Texas A&M last year, is playing in his first Open, and on the very first hole, he created a memory that will last a lifetime, by holing out from the fairway to make an eagle with a stunning shot. Take a look:
The five-time major champ has carded three straight birdies on 4, 5 and 6 and is moving his way up the leaderboard here in the first round.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Woods stumbles on 5
A bad miss of the tee on the par-3 5th hole has Tiger Woods falling early. He followed a three-putt bogey on the 4th with a double bogey on the 220-yard par 3.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Tiger drops a shot
After a great drive and layup on the 601-yard par-5 4th, Woods fell back to even par with a three-putt as his approach shot left him with a lengthy putt that he was not able to get down in 2. Even par through 4 for the Big Cat.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Justin Rose is in at 2-under
The 2013 U.S. Open champion carded a bogey-free 69 in his opening round, and is also among the leaders in strokes gained in the early going, across the board.
Koepka opened par-bogey-bogey, but posted back-to-back birdies on the 4th and 5th to get back to even, highlighted by an absolute seed of a tee shot on the 220-yard par-3 to inside of 3 feet to set up the tap-in.
The world's No. 1 player found a pot bunker in front of the first hole, and wasn't able to get up and down to make the save, so he'll start at 1-over. The favorite to win the Claret Jug is a big favorite among bettors heading into the week at Royal Troon, with 24% of the money on him to win the event.
The three-time British Open champion is in red numbers early after sinking a putt from off the green on No. 3. His birdie drew a giant roar from the gallery around the third green.
Scottie Scheffler has made his way to the first tee, hammering his drive down the right side. At +550, Scheffler is the favorite, just ahead of Rory McIlroy who's already played himself out of contention.
Pars all around
It's par for Tiger, Xander and Patrick Cantlay at the first ... but Tiger puts his drive on No. 2 in the left rough.
And they're off ...
Tiger pipes his drive on No. 1 down the right side, as does Xander and Cantlay puts his right down the middle.
Here comes the rain ... and Big Cat
Rain is coming down at Royal Troon, making things even more difficult than they already were. (Note: Just 11 of the 118 players on the course right now are under par).
Next up on the tee (at a not-so-perfect time) is Tiger Woods, who's paired today with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
DeChambeau still can't figure out the British
It's not looking like back-to-back majors for Bryson DeChambeau. The U.S. Open champ at 6-over already after a front-nine .
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as The Open Championship has never been kind to Bryson. In six previous tournaments, he's finished in the top 10 once (T8 in 2022). He's missed the cut twice and finished T60 a year ago.
McIlroy playing himself out of contention already
How would Rory McIlroy respond after the devastating loss in the U.S. Open? Well, not great.
After posting a 2-over 38 on the front nine, he bogeyed No. 10, then hit it out of bounds on No. 11 for a double. He's at 5-over, eight shots back of Justin Thomas.
Jay Busbee
Who says Troon is tough?
You don't need to worry about the putter when you hole out from the thick stuff, as Stephen Jaeger can attest:
With a birdie-birdie finish, Justin Thomas has jumped out to the clubhouse lead at the Open Championship at -3. It's a good start for Thomas, who got as low as -4 on the morning before sliding back down into the field. Thomas has two PGA Championships; he'd like to add a third major to his total.
Jay Busbee
Leaderboard update
(Warren Little/Getty Images)
There's a traffic jam at the top of the Open Championship leaderboard. Eight players are tied at -2, with three already in the clubhouse, Alex Noren, Nicolai Hojgaard and Justin Rose. Even with them and still on the course: Justin Thomas (above), Chris Kirk, Maverick McNealy, Minkyu Kim and Sam Hutsby. With more wicked weather still to come at Royal Troon, it's likely to get worse before it gets better.
Other notables on the course:
Rory McIlroy: T14, E Jon Rahm: T14, E Bryson DeChambeau: T84, +6
Jay Busbee
U.S. Open champ DeChambeau struggles in early going at Troon
(AP Photo/Jon Super)
Troon is a long way from Pinehurst, as it turns out. U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau, who had such success in North Carolina, is finding the going much rougher in Scotland.
DeChambeau opened with a bogey, and proceeded to massacre the front nine at Troon with a six-over scorecard that included a double bogey at the par-5 sixth. There's a long way to go in this tournament, but coming from eight strokes back might be beyond even DeChambeau's prodigious abilities.
Jay Busbee
Leaderboard update
Our first leader is in the clubhouse, and he'll be very happy with his score as conditions continue to deteriorate at Royal Troon:
Leaderboard
T1. Alex Noren (F)
T1. Justin Rose (13)
T1. Justin Thomas (12)
T1. Russell Henley (7)
T5. Nicolai Hojgaard (14) + 6 six others
The lead reached as low as -4, but the 23-mph winds have victimized the world's finest players.
Jay Busbee
Welcome to beautiful Scotland
Oh, the weather is just great at Royal Troon, wish you were here:
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 18, 2024
Ryan Young
Younghan Song entered this week at No. 221 in the OWGR. He’s yet to win on either the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, but he’s won twice on the Japan Tour — including last fall at the Sansan KBC Augusta.
A birdie at the Postage Stamp for our leader, Younghan Song.
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