Justin Rose pulled out of The Open with a back injury and was replaced for his 8.14am tee time by Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino.
Rose had ended Wednesday’s practice round prematurely, leading to speculation he may have sustained a problem, and he did not arrive at the first tee for his scheduled time.
Therefore the 26-year-old Hoshino joined the Ryder Cup dream team pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, the 2018 champion, as a late replacement.
First reserve had been Alex Noren but he chose to go to the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in California, which starts later on Thursday.
Follow all the latest first round updates below…
10:03 AM
Rory gets his title tilt under way
As does the defending champion Collin Morikawa.
McIlroy hits his tee shot down the fairway as does last year’s Champion Golfer of the year…making up the threeball is Xander Schauffele and he joins them on the short grass.
McIlroy opened the 2010 championship here with a 63 before following up with an 80…he’s waited 12 years to get back here for an Open (a footy injury ruling him out of the 2015 edition), can he get back on the major-winning train at the one place he wants to win (well, here and Augusta, to be fair…).
09:59 AM
Poulter drops back to two-under
That’s due to a bogey at the par-three 11th – a three-putt (ouch) his undoing.
09:55 AM
JT Poston
Is one of the co-leaders on three-under and if he continues his current form he will indeed render the Old Course obsolete – that’s because he’s three-under through three, so he’s on for a 54…he obviously won’t get that but it’s fair to say it’s a more than useful start from the world No 60…
09:49 AM
DeChambeau birdies the seventh
After that monster drive it wasn’t to be an eagle BUT it’s the easiest of birdies and that’s three in a row for the American. He’s now at two-under.
09:48 AM
There’s a five-way tie at the top
Wu and Poulter have been joined on three-under by Americans Cameron Tringale, JT Poston and South Korea’s Joo-Hyung Kim.
Bubbling under on two-under are seven golfers, whose number includes Robert MacIntyre who has birdied the second and third.
09:43 AM
Dechambeau has been the dictionary definition of reserve so far
Irons off the tee etc – far more Shooter McGavin than Happy Gilmore…
That is until the par-four seventh when he goes for the green at the 371-yard hole. He nails the drive, carrying Shell bunker (which is at roughly 310 yards) and will have a putt for eagle to get to three-under. That’s the DeChambeau we expected this week…
09:37 AM
LIV Americans
Phil Mickelson is at one-under after six pars and a birdie at the seventh, and DeChambeau is one-under thanks to back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth.
09:36 AM
So I said I wasn’t great with distances
I had Poulter’s eagle putt on the ninth as 120 feet. The official Twitter account of The Open has it down as ‘over 160 feet’. Bravo…
09:29 AM
Justin Rose speaks
Via Twitter the 2013 US Open champion said: “On the 4th hole yesterday during my practice round, I made a swing with my driver and started to feel pain in my lower back. I’ve been getting around the clock treatment but it just doesn’t feel ready to compete in this prestigious championship.”
09:28 AM
Poulter didn’t hold sole lead for too long
He’s been joined by Brandon Wu on three-under, the American has just birdied the 10th.
09:27 AM
Ian Poulter eagles the ninth!
After his horror start he’s bounced back brilliantly. He was on one-under on the ninth tee before he drove the green on the 352-yard par four. He then drained his 120 foot (at a guess…distances aren’t my forte…) putt.
He now leads on three-under, a fine turnaround!
09:23 AM
The low scores everyone feared…
…aren’t materialising.
Despite the benign conditions it’s only two-under that leads and there are six golfers on that number.
09:22 AM
Simpson drops a shot at 12
The American is Exhibit A in showing how short par fours aren’t always lambs to the slaughter. He tried to drive the green and found the bushes to the left – ultimately doing well to only drop a shot, the ultimate risk-and-reward hole.
He’s now at one-under.
09:11 AM
Nick Faldo is on Sky comms
And he must be loving it as he’s already had a chance to remind everyone he won The Open at St Andrews back in 1990…
To be fair the five-shot win was impressive and if I won the Masters and then Open at the home of golf in the same year I might dine out on it for the rest of my life…
09:08 AM
Webb Simpson was sole leader
But has dropped back to two-under and now he’ll do well to avoid dropping a shot at the risk-and-reward 12th. He went for the green at the 351-yard par four and found the bushes on the left – that wasn’t the shot shaped (draw verging on a hook) to hit there…
09:03 AM
Ian Poulter didn’t have the best start
Being booed and hooking your opening tee shot was less than ideal but he has got over that horror beginning by parring the first five holes and birdieing the sixth. A fine approach to the 414-yard par-four left him with a 14 foot putt that he sank well. He’s at one-under.
08:59 AM
The leaders are on two-under
And there are now four off them.
Webb Simpson has dropped a shot at the 10th (he hasn’t parred a hole since the sixth…) and joins our favourite amateur Barclay Brown (he of the bucket hat, see below…), American Cameron Tringale and big-hitting Australian Lucas Herbert.
08:52 AM
If there was a hat competition
There’s little doubt that Barclay Brown would beat Patrick Reed…
No slightly rude and provocative sartorial statement, a la Reed with his LIV number, from the amateur. Brown is wearing a festival bucket hat and is managing to pull it off on the hallowed links…bravo!
The Englishman is currently second on two-under through nine…what a fine start.
08:43 AM
Webb Simpson is at three-under
That’s thanks to a birdie at the ninth – he has fallen back to two-under with bogey at the famous eighth – the first of two par threes – but he showed great bouncebackability (thanks, Iain Dowie…) to get back to three-under the very next hole.
The ninth is one of the six par fours that are well in range for most big(ish) hitters…
Read about that hole and the other 17 here, courtesy of Billy Foster…
08:38 AM
More on Rose’s withdrawal
By James Corrigan
Rose seen struggling on Wednesday in practice but after intensive therapy he and his team said they thought he would good to go. It’s a kick in the teeth for the Englishman who was so looking forward to this Championship, as he wrote in his Telegraph column on Tuesday. Japan’s Rikayuna Hoshina got a late call up
08:35 AM
Justin Rose has pulled out
The Englishman withdrew just minutes before he was due to begin his opening round.
The former world No 1 was due to tee off at 8:14am alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, but was a noticeable absentee on the first and confirmed his withdrawal soon after. Rose had abandoned his practice round on Wednesday when he suffered with a back issue, and despite practising on the range on Thursday morning, he took the decision to pull out before his Open Championship campaign had begun.
08:27 AM
DeChambeau drops at shot at the second
He three putted and is at one-over, the tight pin position proving too much for the American who took an iron off the tee.
08:25 AM
What an Alpha combo…
Two big hitters…
08:23 AM
The field is currently four-over
Those pin positions and fact it’s a bit chilly not conducive to ‘tearing the course apart’, so far at least…
08:20 AM
The pin positions are tricky today
In benign conditions tucking the pins away is one way to defend the course. A good example of this is on the second where the flag is just above a hollow – DeChambeau has to putt up the hollow/bowl and does well to get the ball to within five feet.
08:13 AM
Webb Simpson is the early leader
The 2012 US Open champion (don’t worry if you cannot remember him winning it, it wasn’t the most memorable tournament – typical US Open, defensive golf etc etc) is three-under through seven thanks to birdies at the third, fifth and seventh.
08:10 AM
DeChambeau hits an iron off the second tee
That’s a bit of a surprise – while an iron off the first was clearly the play (with the burn to negotiate) you would have thought he’d get the big dog out for the second.
08:06 AM
Having said DeChambeau will have an easy birdie putt…
The American misses from three feet – he pushed that, not one to dwell on.
08:02 AM
DeChambeau is up and running
The big-hitting American (yep, I know it’s not the most imaginative description, but it’s fairly accurate…) takes an iron off the tee (no thought of trying to take on the Swilcan Burn and drive the green) and stiffs his approach to two feet. He’ll have an easy putt for an opening birdie.
DeChambeau is without a top-20 this year so if he challenges for the Claret Jug it will be a shock.
He’s playing with Santa, aka John Daly, his forerunner as the grip-it-and-rip-it King who won here in 1995. He’s off to a good start with a simple par.
07:58 AM
How NOT to ingratiate yourself with your hosts…
Yep, Patrick Reed, a golfer who could (at polite times) be described as Marmite, is wearing a LIV golf cap…classy. Is it in his contract?! ‘In return for many millions you must wear a LIV baseball cap at The Open’…
07:53 AM
Mickelson got a four at the first
No problems for the six-time major winner as he registers a par – on in two and a regulation two-putt.
07:48 AM
Paul Lawrie is at two-over
The 1999 champion bogeyed the second and doubled the fourth BUT has just birdied the fifth to get back to two-over.
07:46 AM
Here’s where Poulter’s tee shot on the first ended up
That’s as far right as you can go without ending up in the town…
07:42 AM
There has been much talk about the weather
More specifically the wind. If conditions are calm throughout there is a fear the ‘Old Lady’ of St Andrews could be taken apart by the big hitters.
READ: It would be an affront to golf if ‘Old Lady’ of St Andrews can no longer defend herself
Well, channelling my inner Michael Fish it’s very calm out there at the moment. The wind was blowing in the practice rounds but it’s currently fairly still…
07:32 AM
‘Phil’ about to get started
The poster boy for the the hugely controversial rebel LIV tour made his long-awaited return to the PGA Tour at last month’s US Open, where he missed the cut.Mickelson, who lifted the Claret Jug in 2013, wasn’t, unlike Poulter, booed…The American finds the fairway without much trouble.
07:28 AM
Of the early starters…
Webb Simpson is the only man in red figures, the American former US Open champion is on one-under. Highly fancied Min Woo Lee is two-over. Both golfers are through three holes.
07:26 AM
Poulter makes four at the first
After that tee shot that may well give him (and anyone who watched it) nightmares the Ryder Cup star was able to register a four.
07:18 AM
So the first ‘Big Name’ to get under way was Ian Poulter
And it’s fair to say it wasn’t the best start. The Englishman who is one of the marquee names to play in the hugely controversial Saudi breakaway LIV Golf series was booed on the first tee and then that was compounded by a horrible hooked tee shot that only just stayed on the fairway (this is the widest fairway in the whole of golf). The tee shot was so wide that he has to got relief from a fence that was impeding his swing for his second.
The Englishman got on the green in two, however, and should make par from there.
07:14 AM
Selected tee times
07:08 Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Ian Poulter (Eng), Jamie Donaldson (Wal)
07:30 Lucas Herbert (Aus), Phil Mickelson (US), Kurt Kitayama (US)
07:52 John Daly (US), Bryson DeChambeau (US), Cameron Tringale (US)
08:03 Brooks Koepka (US), Seamus Power (Ire), Cameron Smith (Aus)
08:14 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Justin Rose (Eng)
09:58 Rory McIlroy (NI), Collin Morikawa (US), Xander Schauffele (US)
10:09 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas (US)
10:20 Tony Finau (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Will Zalatoris (US)
13:04 Paul Casey (Eng), Sung Jae Im (Kor), Gary Woodland (US)
13:15 Dustin Johnson (US), Marc Leishman (Aus), Adam Scott (Aus)
13:26 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Scottie Scheffler (US)
14:59 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Max Homa (US), Tiger Woods (US)
15:10 Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth (US), Harold Varner III (US)
07:13 AM
It doesn’t get much better than this
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of The Open at St Andrews – a tournament that if you cannot get excited about then you have no soul.
The best golfers on the planet playing for the Claret Jug at home of golf just oozes tradition, history and, if you’re like me, kid-on-Christmas-Eve levels of excitement.
As if to add to the almost mythical levels of anticipation Rory McIlroy says winning an Open Championship at St Andrews is golf’s “Holy Grail”. Three-time Open champion Bobby Jones famously said an elite player’s career would not be complete without lifting the Claret Jug on the Old Course.
“I don’t know if a golfer’s career isn’t complete if you don’t, but I think it’s the Holy Grail of our sport,” replied McIlroy as he was asked about the quote. But a roll call of those who have lifted the Claret Jug at the home of golf does certainly indicate that it has a reputation for crowning some of the most distinguished names to have played the game – Jones, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have all tasted glory at St Andrews (although the last two winners of the Open here, Louis Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson, good as they are, aren’t exactly all-time greats…).
McIlroy starts the tournament as favourite and having missed that chance to defend his 2014 Open win when the major was last played on the hallowed fairways in Fife in 2015 (thanks to a football injury, of all things…) he’s keen to add his name to the list of all-time greats to have lifted the Claret Jug at St Andrews.
“I’m playing well. I’m in good form. My confidence in my game is as high as it’s been in quite a while,” said McIlroy, who was second in the Masters, eighth in the US PGA and fifth in the US Open. “But I can’t go in here thinking that this might be my time. I just have to go out and play a really good tournament. I’ve got to string four good rounds together, and hopefully at the end of the week, that’s good enough to win.
“I’m happy where everything’s at, and I just can’t get ahead of myself. Just have to make sure that I prepare well the next couple of days and get myself in the right frame of mind for Thursday.”
One worry surrounding this edition of golf’s oldest tournament is whether today’s technology and big hitters could render the ‘Old Lady’ of St Andrews obsolete. Faldo has speculated that if conditions are calm for next four days then we could see the first 59 in a major.
McIlroy, however, isn’t predicting a birdie fest. The favourite thinks that while the winning score could be low it won’t be near the 20-under mark.
“I don’t think we are going to see it,” McIlroy said regarding the fear the course could be overpowered. “You can bomb it and get close to the greens but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to make birdies.
“I can see it (the winning total) being low, but I can’t see something in the 20 under range. Everyone has seen how firm and fast the fairways are and it’s going to get pretty tricky at the end of the week.”
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