Open Championship: Round 1 winners and losers, including Tiger Woods

Daniel Brown is making his major campionship debut and did not disappoint playing in the second to last group. Despite six missed cuts and a withdrawal in his last eight DP World Tour starts, he came alive at the Open Championship with a bogey free 6-under 65. He made an 8-foot birdie putt on the last to take the 18-hole lead. Brown missed one fairway as he led the field with 9.11 strokes gained total and 3.53 strokes gained off the tee. He was also fourth with 4.10 strokes putting. Brown made two birdies in a three-hole stretch on the par-4 third and the par-3 fifth as well as the par-5 16^th and the par-18^th. He also did the unthinkable, making back-to-back birdies on the par-4 10^th and the par-4 11^th.

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The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year had one of the best rounds of the day. Coming in the afternoon wave, he shot 5-under 66. He took advantage of his putter Thursday, leading the field with 4.74 strokes gained putting. This came despite not driving the ball as well off the tee. As much as he was making putts for birdies, he was saving par as well. None was better than on the par-4 10^th when he made a putt from 24 feet to remain bogey-free on his round. He made another putt from more than 20 feet for birdie on the ensuing hole. Lowry ended his round by making a birdie to reach 5-under par heading to Friday.  

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Major championship golf is no easy task, even for a 15-time major champion. Tiger Woods shot 8-over 79 in Thursday’s first round of the Open Championship. He go to 1-under par with a birdie from off the green on the par-4 third. However, Woods then shot 8-over over his next nine holes that included a couple of double bogeys. He was able to get one stroke back on the par-4 13^th before finishing his round with back-to-back bogeys. He will need to have a good round tomorrow if he wants to play the weekend at Royal Troon.

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From the morning wave, it was Justin Thomas to emerge atop the leaderboard at 3-under par. He was at one point 4-under through 10 holes. This came before he made double bogey on the par-4 12^th and the bogey on the par-4 13^th. The best part of Thomas’ game in the first round was his putting, shaving off 3.13. strokes. Thomas ended his round with back-to-back birdies, highlighted by making a 25-foot birdie putt. This marked Thomas’ second straight 18-hole lead after recording a 62 last week at the Scottish Open. It is also his lowest first round score in a major since is victory at the 2022 PGA Championship.

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One of few to not have a blemish on the scorecard was 43-year-old Justin Rose, who had to qualify for his 22^nd Open start. Rose shot 2-under 69 with both of his birdies coming on the front nine. He made birdie on the par-4 third by getting his 125-yard approach to four feet. His second came four holes later on the par-4 seventh by getting his 159-yard approach to seven feet. That approach play ranked second with 3.75 strokes gained. On the back nine, Rose had an opportunity to get to 3-under on par-5 16^th but missed his 10-foot birdie putt.

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It was not the day for Rory McIlroy as his lone birdie came on the par-4 third. That came after he made bogey on the opening hole. Despite staying afloat at even par through seven, that is when things started to go away from McIlroy. He made double bogey on the par-3 8^th, the Postage stamp hole. To open the back nine, McIlroy went bogey-double bogey on holes No. 10 and 11. He ended his round by bogeys on the par-4 15^th and the par-4 18^th for an opening round score of 7-over par.   

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Sahith Theegala’ challenges came in stretches Thursday, firing a 6-over 77. He was able to get into the red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 third. However, Theegala could not keep it rolling, instead recording four straight holes over par. He made double bogey on the par-4^th followed by three consecutive bogeys to drop to 4-over through seven. After a couple of pars to round out his front nine, Theegala made three consecutive pars to open the back nine. He was able to make up one of those shots on the 17^th with a 29-foot birdie putt to get back to 6-over.  

Xander Schauffele played solid on Thursday to be part of the group at 2-under par, also with Rose. Although Schauffele did not have a bogey-free round like Rose, his lone blemish came on the par-3 14^th. He missed the green off the tee and did not make his 8-foot putt to save par. Besides that, Schauffele was pretty good. His best shot of the day came on his approach on the par-4 10. He used the wind and the green undulation to his favor to be able to eventually make par. That was in the midst of a good two-hole stretch like Lowry, as Schauffele made a 36-foot foot birdie putt to get to 3-under par. On that 11^th hole, he had to wait 15 minutes before he could take his drive and that is also a hole where the train goes behind adjacently.

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The 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year struggled more than Woods on Thursday, shooting 9-over 80. Cameron Smith had just five pars on the day, making it a roller coaster of a round for the Aussie. He opened bogey, triple bogey, before a birdie on the third. After a par of the par-5 fourth, he bogeyed four of his final five holes on the front nine. Smith began his back nine with pars before a bogey on 12. He then had three bogeys and two birdies to finished out his opening round. He ranked near the bottom of the field in strokes gained total (154^th), strokes gained off the tee (154^th) and strokes gained approach (149^th). Thursday marked his highest score ever in a single round.

Also joining Rose and Schauffele and 2-under par was Alex Noren. He had four birdies and two bogeys in the opening round of his 12^th Open Championship. Noren, whose best Open finish was T6 in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, got his first birdie of the day on the par-5 fourth. Despite a bogey on the par-5 sixth, he immediately responded with birdies on the par-4 seventh and the par-4 ninth. On the back nine, he shot even par where he bogey the par-3 14^th like Schuaffele but was able to respond with a birdie on the last, like Lowry. The 42-year-old is 32^nd in the FedEx Cup standings looking to make his first Tour Championship by cracking the top 30 next month.

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