The Open 2021: first round – live! | Sport

Back-to-back birdies around the turn for last year’s (well, y’know) runner-up Tommy Fleetwood. Shots picked up at 9 and 10 are followed by par on 11 and a crisp click down 12. After a shaggy start, one over through 5, he’s going along nicely now at -2.

Francesco Molinari is this close to wedging in from 100 yards on 18. His ball lands in the middle of the green and spins left, stopping one turn short of the flag. He pops in the birdie putt, smiling nearly as widely as he did at Carnoustie three years ago, and he’s signing his name at the bottom of a two-under 68. No birdie for McIlroy at 10, meanwhile, but after that nightmare three-bogey drag, he’s clinging on at +1.

A massive par save for McIlroy on 9. A very missable 12-footer drops, and he turns in 36. Then up on 10 he’s in the heart of the green in two. A half-chance for birdie from 20 feet, but most importantly it looks as though he’s broken out of that downward spiral. Meanwhile on 18, par for Ryan Fox, who signs for a 68.

An awful end to Tony Finau’s otherwise fine round. He yips a short bogey putt on 18, and the double means he’s signing for a suddenly quite average level-par 70. He wanders off with a slightly stunned expression on his face, the gods of golf having done a proper number on him there. Meanwhile birdie for Collin Morikawa on 16, and the 2020 PGA champ is suddenly looking in very decent nick at -3.

Shades of Rory at the 2012 Ryder Cup for Sergio this morning. McIlroy famously nearly missed his tee time on the Sunday of that famous comeback, sleeping in and requiring the polis to whisk him to Medinah Country Club with minutes to spare. Turns out Garcia had similar problems today, albeit as a result of heavy traffic as opposed to poor alarm-clock management. “Even though I left the house with plenty of time, I needed a little bit of help from a couple of very nice English policemen on the bikes to get me here with only about 35, 40 minutes to tee off. Usually I like to be here around an hour and a half before. We just got stuck. We couldn’t move, and thankfully they helped us a little bit and got us here in time. I was able to do a very quick practice, very quick warmup, but it worked out okay because I played nicely.”

Only one Frenchman has won the Open: Arnaud Massy in 1907 at Birkdale. Thomas Levet made it to a play-off in 2002, while you may recall the heroic Jean van de Velde playing the 72nd at Carnoustie in 1999 in the brave, windswept and impossibly romantic style; in his own words, “like d’Artagnan”. But nobody else from France, excluding Massy himself in 1911, has come as close since. Benjamin Hebert is setting some solid foundations for another Gallic tilt, though: birdie at 14 move him to within a couple of the lead at -4.

McIlroy rolls in his birdie putt. That was crucial, partly to stem the bleeding on the scorecard, but mainly to build a little belief with the flat stick. The work he’s been doing with putting coach Brad Faxon – who tied for seventh at Turnberry in 1994 – is not yet complete.

Time for Rory to react. From 160 yards, he wedges pin high to eight feet at 8. If he doesn’t pop that in, what little that remains of his confidence will surely evaporate. Up on 15, the 2020 PGA champ Collin Morikawa, having turned in 33, should end a run of pars by slotting home an eight-footer of his own. But the birdie chance slips by the left. he remains at -2.

McIlroy gouges out from the rough at 7, only to hit a heavy long iron that leaves him well short of the green. He chips to six feet, but it may as well be 66 feet for all the good his putter’s doing right now. Another one shaves the hole, and it’s three bogeys in a row. So much for that fast start; this is beginning to look like yet another dismal opening round at a major, albeit not of Portrush proportions quite yet. He needs to check this downward momentum pronto.

Corey Conners has some high finishes this season. Third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, seventh at the Players, and tied for eighth at the Masters (as well as a tie for tenth at the 2020 Masters, technically also this season). The 29-year-old Canadian is building foundations for another high finish; birdies at 6, 11 and now 14 have brought him up to -3.

-6: Oosthuizen (F)
-5: Spieth (F), Harman (F)
-4: Hughes (F), Frittelli (F), Cink (F)
-3: Sullivan (F), Harding (F), Willett (F), Senior (F), Rose (F), Scheffler (F), An (F), Conners (14), Mitchell (13), Hebert (13)

Back-to-back birdies for the 2018 champ Francesco Molinari at 13 and 14. He’s -2. More European joy meanwhile for Benjamin Hebert, the 34-year-old Frenchman following up birdies at 3 and 4 with another at 12. He’s -3.

The wind’s well up now, not making things any easier. That may well explain why none of the late starters are making a Spieth-Harman style procession of the front nine. McIlroy will have been hoping to make such a statement, but he’s in danger of making another of his world-famous cold starts. Having carded back-to-back bogeys, he’s just sent a huge hook into the deepest filth down the left of 7. It’s a par five, so there’s plenty of scope to recover, but the overall signs aren’t good, and the mood music is a miserable dirge as well.

McIlroy splashes out from the bunker at 6 to four feet. It’s a fine bunker shot, but nothing’s guaranteed on the greens for Rory, and he dribbles a very uncertain effort left of the cup. The break was always going to win out there. After back-to-back bogeys, he’s +1, and that wedge into 2 seems an awfully long time ago now.

A round of 68 for Jaco Ahlers. The 38-year-old from South Africa has one previous Open appearance to his name; he missed the cut in 2009 at Turnberry. He’s well positioned to make it this time. Patrick Reed, having bogeyed 5, rattles in a 25-footer for bounceback birdie at 6. The 2018 Masters champ is level par.

McIlroy, spooked after missing that short putt on 5, loses concentration on his downswing at the par-three 6th. He laughs ironically, and a little bitterly, the split second after making contact and sending his ball into a deep bunker to the right of the green. Either he’s disgusted with himself, or he’s annoyed at someone and/or something that’s put him off. It’s unclear. What isn’t so clear is his head, which has seemed a bit addled since missing that short birdie chance at 2.

Rory McIlroy’s putter lets him down yet again. He looks to have scrambled his par at 5 with a wedge to three feet, but pulls the par putt and he’s back to level par. The flat stick arguably cost him a sustained challenge on Sunday at the US Open last month; it’s already cost him a couple of shots here this afternoon. Tony Finau is also someone who occasionally struggles on the greens, but they’re dropping at the moment: birdies at 13 and 14 whisk the big man up to -2.

Keith Mitchell has a fairly nondescript resume save one highlight: the 2019 Honda Classic, when he closed with a 67 to pip Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler for his only win on the PGA Tour. The 29-year-old from Chattanooga is choo-chooing along nicely this afternoon: birdies at 4, 6 and now 11 have taken him up to -3, where he enjoys a share of seventh.

The 30-year-old South African Daniel van Tonder is making his Open debut this week. He opened with bogey, but kickstarted his round by holing out from the fairway for birdie at 5. More birdies at 6, 9 and 14 followed. A closing bogey, the result of finding the fairway bunker that’s trapped many a drive today, gives his card some symmetry if nothing else. He signs for a two-under 68.

The 2017 PGA champion Justin Thomas started quietly with three pars. He makes his first move on 4, steering in a right-to-left curler from 25 feet for birdie. He’s going round with Tommy Fleetwood, who found the front of the green in regulation, albeit miles from the flag. He’s left with a huge left-to-right breaker, over a hump, from the best part of 80 feet. He does pretty well to get to within ten, but can’t make the saver and drops to +1.

Rickie Fowler rolls in a gentle left-to-right slider on the tricky 4th for his first birdie of the week. Back on 3, Cameron Smith slices an awful tee shot into deep muck up a bank to the right of the par-three, but he flops out to six feet and scrambles a fine par.

There’s not a lot of movement at the top of the leader board right now. Let’s give it time. But here’s a reminder of how the earlier starters made their mark.

-6: Oosthuizen (F)
-5: Spieth (F), Harman (F)
-4: Hughes (F), Frittelli (F), Cink (F)
-3: Sullivan (F), Harding (F), Willett (F), Senior (F), Rose (F), Scheffler (F), An (F), Van Tonder (16)
-2: Bezuidenhout (F), Hovland (F), Casey (F), Kirk (F), D Johnson (F), Garcia (F), Snedeker (F), Fox (11), Morikawa (9), Mitchell (9), Hebert (8), Simpson (6), Kisner (4)

McIlroy gets a read off Cam Smith, who rattles in a straight par putt from almost exactly the same spot. But he looks a bit twitchy over it, adjusting his line a couple of times, before finally making the stroke … and missing the hole on the right. That’s a poor effort by comparison to the quick and confident stylings of the Aussie. He remains -1; Smith is level par.

McIlroy looks like he’s on one. He splits the fairway at 2, then from 75 yards, lands his wedge 20 feet past the flag. The spin bites, and drags his ball back pin high, leaving a six-footer for another birdie. Meanwhile there are slow starts for Tyrrell Hatton and Phil Mickelson, who are going round together. Both have just made their second bogey of the day, at 4, and both find themselves at +2.

The Brandt Snedeker showboat has come into dock. Having nearly aced 16 and holed out from 100 yards for eagle at 17, he pars the last and signs for a fine 68. He was going round today with An Byeong-hun, who finished strongly himself with birdies at 17 and 18. A 67, and he’s -3.

In defence of 2009 champion Stewart Cink, with Steve Buist. “I, too, would have liked to have seen Tom Watson win instead of Stewart Cink, but take heart. I can tell you that Cink is a very nice man. I had been given a crap assignment on the final day of the 2006 Canadian Open – ask the American golfers after the final round was finished what they remembered about 9/11 on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. All these guys wanted to do was get the heck out of Canada as fast as they could. But Stewart Cink was patient, gracious with his time, incredibly polite and thoughtful. Super nice guy.”

Bogey for Will Zalatoris at the last, following his egregious yip on 17. He ends with a disappointing 69 in the circumstances, though he’ll always have the first eagle of the week, made from the fairway at 12. Lee Westwood is in with a 71, and wanders off looking mighty frustrated. Dustin Johnson signs for a 68. And back on 1, plenty of hollering and cavorting as McIlroy tidies up for his opening birdie, much to the gallery’s delight. What a contrast to Portrush!

Good news for fans of Rory McIlroy. He’s found the fairway with his opening tee shot. That’s a vast improvement to his start last time out at Portrush, where he sent his first shot out of bounds, en route to running up a quadruple-bogey eight. He’s got plenty of recent form for starting majors cold, so could do with getting something going quickly today. And here he is, screeching his wedge to three feet! A great chance to get off to a flyer.

Brandt Snedeker’s round goes from the ridiculous to the preposterous. He’s just been robbed of what looked a certain hole-in-one at 16. Now he sends a one-bounce wedge into the cup from 100 yards for eagle at 17! Out of nowhere, with two swishes of an iron, he’s catapulted up the standings to -2.

In with 67s: Justin Rose and Scottie Scheffler, the latter having unveiled a monster stinger earlier in the week, no bad weapon on a windy links. They’re -3, a stroke ahead of Sergio Garcia, who has closed with two birdies, rolling in a big putt on 17 and wedging to a couple of feet at the last. A 68, and wouldn’t it be lovely to see Sergio add a Claret Jug to his green jacket? Yes, oh yes, yes it would, but let’s not get ourselves in a state too early in the week. Forget I said anything.

Brandt Snedeker is this close to an ace at the 156-yard par-three 16th! It’s unbelievable how his ball didn’t drop. It landed ten feet shy of the flag, rolled up serenely towards the left lip, then took a gentle right turn … ensuring it would topple in, right? Wrong. It somehow defied gravity, before then taking a screeching hard right, stopping half an inch behind the cup. Eh? Such a shame. It would have been a sixth hole-in-one here since 1981, more than any other course on the rota. But there we go. Snedeker taps in for birdie that moves him to level par.

It’s been ten years since the Golf Boys burst onto the scene. Rickie Fowler was boy-band pretty back then; now he’s rocking a more mature look, sporting a moustache that wouldn’t see him out of place in the video for Sabotage. He’d be an extremely popular winner, especially after his struggles of 2020, and he’s been edging back into form, tying for eighth at this year’s PGA. He opens with nerve-settling par after a wild drive. He’s going round today with Xander Schauffele and Bob MacIntyre, who also walk off the green with their pars.

Stewart Cink leaves his second at 18 short of the green. It looks like a first bogey of the day is on the cards, but from the best part of 60 feet, and over a mound, he lags to kick-in distance. The 2009 Open champion tidies up for his 66. He’s -4. “I still can’t get over Stewart Cink,” says Simon Farnaby, speaking for more than a few of us, I’ll be bound. Oh Tom.

You have to worry for Will Zalatoris in the long term. A strange thing to say, perhaps, for a 24-year-old who has already finished second at the Masters, and has top-ten finishes at the US Open and PGA on his CV too. But he’s got a serious problem with short putts, and on 17 he prods right of the cup from 18 inches. That’s a proper yip, the head of his putter shuddering in mid-air as he pulls it back, all the smoothness apparent in his longer strokes gone. He looks a bit like Bernhard Langer, too. Bogey, and he’s -2.

Jason Day had his best chance to win the Open at St Andrews in 2015. He shot a bogey-free 70 on the final day, but left his putt at the last one turn short, missing out on a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman and eventual winner Zach Johnson. He’ll not be getting so close this year, unless something very strange happens. He’s just triple-bogeyed the 9th, hitting the turn in 40. He’s +5 already, and there’s a fair chance his back is giving him gyp again.

The defending champion Shane Lowry can’t get up and down from 80 yards, and that’s bogey at the closing hole. He signs for a 71. Not ideal, but not the worst after that nervous bogey-bogey start. Louis Oosthuizen manages to scramble successfully, chipping to six feet and tidying up. He ends with a blemish-free 64. And it’s birdie for Jon Rahm, who makes his six footer … just … and, like Lowry, signs for a 71.

-6: Oosthuizen (F)
-5: Spieth (F), Harman (F)
-4: Hughes (F), Frittelli (F), Cink (17)
-3: Sullivan (F), Harding (F), Willett (F), Senior (F), Zalatoris (16), Rose (16)

Thanks John … and the leader Louis Oosthuizen is already up against it down the last, having pulled his drive into a troublesome bunker. Shane Lowry – who has battled back to level par after making birdies at 16 and 17 – is in there alongside him. Both are forced to take their medicine and chip out. Jon Rahm, meanwhile, finds the short stuff and is able to wedge to six feet. He’ll have a chance for a closing birdie that’d make a poor round a little more palatable.

And with that, I shall hand back over to Scott Murray. It’s all shaping up rather nicely.

Has Zalatoris hurt himself? Something looked to go as he tried to dig out of some hefty rough. There’s a limp back to the fairway on the 15th, though perhaps he is forlorn after some play that failed to live up to that eagle he landed. Shades of Kylian Mbappé’s walk of no shame? Nope, that genuinely looks like could be something nasty but Lazarus-like he drills his third to within inches of the hole. Well done, son. Mackenzie Hughes, who briefly led, overpowers his shot to 18 and has a salvage job on his hands to stay at -4. And he lands it, taking a 66 into the hut. Rose, on 15, misses a birdie. Oosthuizen may be red-hot but his birdie on 17 falls short, and Harman on 18, lands a birdie that means he joins Spieth on 65 and a share of the clubhouse lead. The scoring has been strong, and puts distinct pressure on those going off later in the day.

-6: Oosthuizen (17)
-5: Spieth (18)
-4: Harman (18)
-4: Hughes (18)
-4: Fritelli (18)
-4: Cink (16)

Oosthuizen plays a beauty on the par-three 16th and may well climb to -6. He does just that, and he’s out in front all alone. Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson is up to -2 after 14 and his back nine is a sincere improvement. Spieth’s shot to the green gives him chance to sign off for a 64 but he makes a mess of his putt, misreading and under-powering but will put a 65 in the book. Bryson, up ahead, scoops up an approach shot that’s much closer than that of his compatriot but follows Spieth in not sinking his birdie chance. He finishes on +1, not bad considering he only hit the fairway on four occasions. Dylan Fritelli joins the -4 club after the 17th.

-6: Oosthuizen (16)
-5: Spieth (18)
-4: Harman (17)
-4: Hughes (17)
-4: Fritelli (17)
-4: Cink (15)

Stewart Cink, after a lovely putt on the 14th, joins the -4 club. Justin Rose, after the 14th, was on -3 but then looks in trouble on 14 after almost going out of bounds. A five will be a good result for him. Oosthuizen made it to -5 after sinking an easy birdie on 14. The 2010 winner looks in decent fettle and has a chance to get to -6 that he can’t make. He’s always been a talent, right? There are roars on 18 at a DeChambeau drive that almost hits the green on a par four. Spieth is rather more measured off the tee.