The opening round of the Open Championship concluded at Royal Liverpool on Thursday as three players share the lead at 5-under par in Hoylake, England.
Hitting fairways were key as those who hit the English fescue rough or the pot bunkers, made things more challenging as the round progressed.
Here are four takeaways from Round One of the 151st Open Championship.
An Amateur is atop the Open Championship leaderboard
At 6-foot-8, Christo Lamprecht qualified for the Open Championship with a victory at The Amateur Championship at Hillside Golf Club last month, which took place near Royal Liverpool.
Lamprecht, a 22-year-old senior at Georgia Tech, was a first-team All-American this past spring after recorded 41 rounds in the 60s and 70 at par or better. That success translated to Royal Liverpool this week with a 5-under 66 after posting seven birdies and two bogeys, including a chip-in for birdie on the par-4 14th hole, which was the hardest hole of the day.
Lamprecht is the first player to hold an 18-hole lead/co-lead in his PGA Tour debut since Sepp Straka in 2018. In addition, the last player to hold an 18-hole lead or co-lead in his major championship debut was Andrew Landry at the 2016 U.S. Open. He is also the first amateur to lead a major in a dozen years.
The South African was second in the field in strokes gained: off the tee and fifth in strokes gained: approach.
Also joining Lamprecht at -5 is Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who recorded six birdies and a bogey in his opening 18 holes. After his first bridie on the par-5 fifth, Fleetwood gave that shot back with his lone bogey came at the par-4 sixth, the second hardest hole of the day. He was able to get that stroke back with a birdie on the par-4 seventh, after getting his approach to 10 feet from about 190 yards out.
It concluded a 1-under 34 through the first nine holes. On the back, he went bogey-free 4-under 32 that was fueled by a birdie on the par-4 11th and three consecutive birdies on the par 4s 14 and 16, in addition to the par-5 15th.
His 5-under 66 marks his 11th round at 66 or better since the start of 2017, which is tied with 2017 Open Champion Jordan Spieth and three behind five-time major champion Brooks Koepka. In that span, no other player has more than nine rounds at 66 or better.
Fleetwood led the field in par-4 scoring and was fifth in strokes gained putting to help be atop the leaderboard heading into Friday’s second round.
Related: 2023 Open Championship: preview, second round tee times and TV schedule
Emiliano Grillo also among Fleetwood and Lamprecht for the lead
Emiliano Grillo, who won the Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour in May, missed the cut in his latest start at the John Deere Classic a couple weeks ago and finished tied for 15th at the Travelers Championship a week before that.
Those two weeks of rest heading into the Open Championship seemed to be favorable as he is in good condition to make his first major cut this season. Grillo, who missed the cut at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, bogeyed two of his first three holes before settling in and recording seven birdies after that, including a birdie on the par-5 18th to finish his round tied with Fleetwood and Lamprecht.
Grillo birdied the par-5 fifth and the par-3 ninth to finish even par through the first nine holes. On the back nine, Grillo went bogey-free 5-under 31 on the back nine, including three birdies on the final four holes to finish strong.
He led the field in 7.26 total strokes gained with Fleetwood and Lamprecht, par-3 and par-5 scoring, while being second in greens in regulation, and fourth in strokes: gained approach as Grillo did not find any pot bunkers throughout his first 18 holes.
Also read: Breaking down the course at Royal Liverpool for the 2023 Open Championship
Reigning U.S. Open Championship Wyndham Clark inside the top 10
During the first couple of days of last month’s U.S. Open, World No. 10 Wyndham Clark remained quiet near the top of the leaderboard en route to his first major victory.
That was no different Thursday at Royal Liverpool with finished inside the top five with a 3-under 68. After recording nine consecutive pars to begin his major championship title reign, Clark got going with birdies on the par-4 10th and the par-4th 11. On the 10th, Clark made a 21-footer birdie putt and on 11, he was able to get his approach to eight feet from 89 yards out in the rough.
Despite a bogey on the par-4 14th, he quickly responded with birdies on the par-5 15th and the par-5 18th. On the 18th, he nearly made a 28-footer for eagle, but settled for a tap-in birdie to finish his round.
Where are the favorites on the leaderboard?
Coming into the 151st Open Championship, the favorites have been primed to be atop of the leaderboard. However, not many of the world’s best are near the top of the leaderboard. Besides Clark, only World No. 8 Max Homa is inside the top 10, also at 3-under with Clark.
World No. 1, 4, 5 and 6, Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele, respectively, are all at 1-under par and tied for 18th. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy is at even par. The group at +1 includes World No. 9 Matt Fitzpatrick, a trio of Aussies in Jason Day, Adam Scott and last year’s Open Champion Cameron Smith.
However, the Claret Jug is still another 54 holes away from being awarded and a lot can take place between now and Sunday. For these stars, Thursday about feeling the course before adjusting to the weather and attacking when you can the rest of the tournament.