Rory McIlroy’s hopes of winning the 148th Open Championship in front of his adoring home fans were left in tatters as early as the first hole at Royal Portrush, after the 2014 champion endured a horror show that saw him finish the first round trailing the leader by 13 shots, and starring down a missed cut for only the second time in his career.
The 30-year-old hit his opening tee shot out of bounds at the Northern Ireland links en route to a quadruple bogey, and then dropped two more shots at the 16thand made a triple bogey at the last to sign for an eight-over-par 79 that left him tied in 150thplace and looking for an early flight back to Florida.
Much of focus in the build-up to the championship was whether Northern Ireland would be celebrating their greatest hope lifting the Claret Jug on the country’s premier course. But the chances of that happening have all but disappeared as McIlroy’s powers seem to desert him in the hours of his greatest need.
“I would like to punch myself,” the four-time major winner said after his round. “I made a couple of stupid mistakes. I was pretty nervous on the first tee and hit a bad shot. I showed some resilience in the middle of the round, and was trying to fight back into the championship, but then I finished off poorly as well. If I look back, I undid all my good work to recover on the last three holes.
“At the end of the day, I play golf to fulfil my ambitions, not anyone else’s, but I wish I could have given the crowd something to cheer about. I let myself down more than anyone else, and need to pick myself back up.”
McIlroy wasn’t the only hotly fancied player to come unstuck around the testing links. Tiger Woods, without a competitive round since the US Open, looked stiff and uncomfortable throughout the round, and slumped to a 78, one shot ahead of McIlroy, and most likely facing a similarly early exit.
The three-time winner produced six bogeys and a double bogey in his round, making a single birdie at the 15th. “I had a hard time moving and was just trying to piece together a swing that will get me around a golf course,” said the 43-year-old 15-time major winner, who admitted to feeling sore after his around. “I’m going to have days like this and I’ve got to fight through it. And I fought through it. Unfortunately, I did not post a very good score.”
At the other end of the leaderboard, America’s JB Holmes, who came into the tournament on the back of a string of missed cuts on the PGA Tour, leads on five under, one stroke ahead of Irishman Shane Lowry, who set the early standard with five birdies and one dropped shot in his 67.
Brooks Koepka, seeking his fifth major victory since 2017, is among a pack of 13 players on three under. Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrell Hatton are in that group, as is New Zealander Ryan Fox, who recorded 29 coming in – the lowest total for a back nine in Open history. Justin Rose is on two under, while Jordan Spieth, is on one under.
Those watching experienced a variety of typical links weather conditions, including wind and bright sunshine, then swirling showers before the sun returned for the final groups.
There was disappointment for defending champion Francesco Molinari, who produced three bogeys and a double bogey over the first 13 holes as he finished on three over. Graeme McDowell, who was born a stone’s throw from the course, was three under after a birdie on the 14th, but the round fell apart and a triple bogey on the 18th meant he ended two over.
One of the biggest cheers of the day came on the par-three 13th, when Argentine Emiliano Grillo sunk the first hole-in-one of the championship, but there were groans aplenty on the par-five seventh as 2001 winner David Duval suffered the ignominy of a 14. The 47-year-old also recorded a triple bogey on the 17th and is bottom of the pack on 20-over after a 91 – the tournament’s worst round in 22 years.