The longest day, one which heralded in the 150th Open with an overcast morning sky, finished with a red-hued dipping sunset that cast long shadows of players over the Old Course akin to the stickmen of a Lowry painting.
By the time Ronan Mullarney, in the last three-ball of all, completed his round in the fast-fading light with a par for a one-over 73, the huge crowds who’d gathered from 6.30am to see Paul Lawrie hit the first tee shot had reduced to diehards of an intriguing, if overlong, first round which saw American Cameron Young leading the way after a wonderfully constructed round of 64, eight under par.
The Old Course was tricky and, as Rory McIlroy put it, “fiddly”. But, in truth, even with the R&A tucking flags in positions rarely seen before in an effort to help protect it, the weakened wind compared to the practice days left the links open to low scoring and many obliged, with the firm fairways making for a number of drivable par fours and long waits on the two par fives which were on in two for most.
Indeed, the slow nature of play was reflected in groups taking more than six hours to complete their rounds, to make for what was as much an examination of patience and stamina as shot-making.
There is a statistic which informs that every winner of the Claret Jug at St Andrews since 1939 was within three shots of the lead after round one, which, if it were to hold true, would mean only Young, McIlroy and Cameron Smith can aspire to a place in history. Yet, the sheer number of under-par rounds – no fewer than 54 players – would indicate a lot more this time remain in the game.
For the seven Irish players in the field, there was more good than bad: McIlroy, of course, led the way in his bid to claim a first Major since his 2014 US PGA triumph with a 66 in which he was very much in control of his game; while Pádraig Harrington, struggling with an old knee injury, dug deep into his resources to finish with a birdie for a 69.
A missed short putt on the 16th for bogey was followed by an exceptional up and down from the rough on the Road Hole and then a four-footer for birdie on the last. “It was hard going those last couple of holes, all the stopping and starting. When you’re 50 years of age, it’s hard to Rolls-Royce it on every swing … physically, it’s a little tough for me at the moment. I’ve got a bit of an injury and 18 holes is a long day when you’re waiting around and then you’re trying to warm up for each shot. I think I did a good job until 16. It was a long way home for those last two holes.”
Harrington – with physio and pizza awaiting him on his finish – looked tired. So too, Tiger Woods. The 15-times Major champion, a two-time winner over the Old Course, started his round with a double-bogey – dumping his approach into the burn – and wearily finished out for a 78. But there was that old fight left. “It looks like I’m going to have to shoot 66 [in the second round]. That’s my responsibility. I need to do it,” said Woods.
For Shane Lowry and Séamus Power, there were elements of disappointment with their rounds but also the belief that all has not yet been lost. While David Carey, in the fading light, drove the green on the 18th and two putted for a birdie for 72.
“I’m not down in the dumps by any means about my day. I’m pretty happy with how I fought. It’s tough. You need good bounces. You need to be very clever. It’s very tricky,” said Lowry, who recovered from a double-bogey six on the second hole – where he pushed his drive into the gorse bushes down the right and had to take an unplayable lie – but showed his fortitude to ultimately sign for a 72.
Showing his fighting spirit, he added: “I know I’m a long way behind Rory. He shot six under. Cameron Young shot eight under. Pretty good scores. That doesn’t mean 20 under is going to win around here this weekend. I think 12 to 14 under would be a pretty good mark, even if it is that low. I’m happy with how today went considering the start.”
Power, too, had a double-bogey. In his case, it came on the drivable par-four 12th where a drive as straight as an arrow found the wickedly placed pot bunker in the middle of the fairway. “I’ve played a lot of links golf, and I’ve rarely seen a links course play like that. I think it’s going to be difficult for everyone, trying to figure it out the best you can as you go,” said the Waterford golfer who had a 73 and faces some work if he can manage to survive the cut and continue his impressive run of finishes on the Majors this year.
The man they all have to chase is Young, a graduate of the Korn Ferry Tour from last year and still looking for his breakthrough win on the main circuit, but who showed his credentials in the PGA in May when finishing third.
“Any time you are around the lead in a Major championship or any PGA Tour event, frankly you get more and more comfortable every time,” said the American, who held a two-stroke lead over McIlroy with Smith a shot further behind.
Leaderboard
British and Irish unless stated, par 72, (a) denotes amateurs
64 Cameron Young (USA)
66 Rory McIlroy
67 Robert Dinwiddie, Cameron Smith (Aus)
68 (a) Barclay Brown, Talor Gooch (USA), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Dustin Johnson (USA), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Lee Westwood, Kurt Kitayama (USA)
69 Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Pádraig Harrington, Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), John Parry, Ian Poulter, Xander Schauffele (USA), Sahith Theegala (USA), Scott Vincent (Zim), Danny Willett
70 Patrick Cantlay (USA), Thomas Detry (Bel), Ernie Els (Rsa), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley (USA), Lucas Herbert (Aus), Robert MacIntyre
71 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Marcus Armitage, Dean Burmester (Rsa), Paul Casey, Wyndham Clark (USA), Corey Conners (Can), Justin de Los Santos (USA), Matt Ford, Ryan Fox (Nzl), Sung Jae Im (Kor), Sadom Kaewkanjana (Tha), Yuto Katsuragawa (Jpn), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Victor Perez (Fra), Webb Simpson (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA), Cameron Tringale (USA), Trey Mullinax (USA), Brandon Wu (USA)
72 (a) Sam Bairstow, Sam Burns (USA), Laurie Canter, David Carey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Garrick Higgo (Rsa), Zach Johnson (USA), Jason Kokrak (USA), David Law, Shane Lowry, Phil Mickelson (USA), Collin Morikawa (USA), Kevin Na (USA), (a) Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Patrick Reed (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Jason Scrivener (Aus), Justin Thomas (USA), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Aaron Wise (USA), Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry)
73 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), John Daly (USA), Tony Finau (USA), Brian Harman (USA), Kazuki Higa (Jpn), Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Max Homa (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Min-Kyu Kim (Kor), Brooks Koepka (USA), Haotong Li (Chn), Richard Mansell, Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ronan Mullarney, Sebastian Munoz (Col), J. T. Poston (USA), Séamus Power, Jon Rahm (Esp), Jamie Rutherford, Jordan Smith, Harold Varner III (USA), Will Zalatoris (USA)
74 Adria Arnaus (Esp), Ben Campbell (Nzl), John Catlin (USA), (a) Filippo Celli (Ita), Jorge Fernandez Valdes (Arg), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Justin Harding (Rsa), Tom Hoge (USA), Matthew Jordan, Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Chan Kim (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Paul Lawrie, Shaun Norris (Rsa), (a) Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa), Anthony Quayle (Aus), Lars van Meijel (Ned), Gary Woodland (USA)
75 Alexander Bjoerk (Swe), Ashley Chesters, Min-Gyu Cho (Kor), Jack Floydd, Sergio Garcia (Esp), (a) Aaron Jarvis (Cay), Chris Kirk (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Esp), Adrian Meronk (Pol), Guillermo Mito Pereira (Chi), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Aaron Rai
76 Keegan Bradley (USA), Harris English (USA), Oliver Farr, Sam Horsfield, Svn-Hwan Kim (USA), Marc Leishman (Aus), Luke List (USA), Keith Mitchell (USA), Marco Penge, Jamie Donaldson
77 Stephen Dodd, Zander Lombard (Rsa), Dimitrios Papadatos (Aus)
78 Richard Bland, Stewart Cink (USA), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Tiger Woods (USA)
79 Darren Clarke, Jediah Morgan (Aus)
80 Shugo Imahira (Jpn)
81 Sepp Straka (Aut)
82 David Duval (USA), Alex Wrigley
83 Mark Calcavecchia (USA)
