The wind caught just about everyone off guard Thursday in the British Open. It came from the opposite direction off the Irish Sea, accompanied by occasional rain, and made Royal Troon a tougher test than anyone was expecting.
Turns out that wasn't even the biggest surprise.
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Daniel Brown made his major championship debut a memorable one. He birdied two of the last three holes for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Shane Lowry with just enough spectators left in the Scottish twilight to celebrate his amazing day.
It was getting too dark to take a photo of his name atop the leaderboard, and that doesn't interest the 29-year-old from England, anyway.
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“I'm going to try and keep my feet on the ground a bit and take on the job again tomorrow,” Brown said.
A one-time winner on the European tour, he arrived at Royal Troon having failed to make the cut in seven straight tournaments dating to March until a couple of good events. One was the final qualifying to earn a spot in his first major, the other at the Scottish Open when he made the cut and finished 61st.
But this day was all about the wind — yes, it was fierce, but it was different. Instead of players trying to make a score on the downwind front nine and keep it together on the way back, it was tough from start to finish.
Rory McIlroy certainly found that to be the case. He shot 78 with a pair of double bogeys. Ditto for U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who went out in 42 on his way to a 76. Every major is tough on 48-year-old Tiger Woods, who had a 79 for his highest start in a major since an 80 in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
Lowry motored along, putting as well as he has all year, soaking up the warm applause all while reminding himself it was only a good start and three more rounds were ahead of him. But he sure knew what to expect.
“Fortunately enough, I came here two weeks ago and I played this wind on the second day that I played here. I saw the golf course in every wind possible I could see it,” Lowry said. “Yeah, I guess that was a good thing to do, and it’s out there paying off a little bit today.”
Justin Thomas is off to another great start for the second straight week in Scotland, even if his score doesn't look that way. He had a 68 — he shot 62 last week in the Scottish Open — and feels as though he played better because the misses are more severely punished at Troon.
The group at 69 included PGA champion Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose, who also played bogey-free with greater appreciation of this Open because he had to endure 36-hole final qualifying just to get in.
Throw in the occasional rain, and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler found it plenty difficult after battling his way to a 70.
“I don’t know if confusing is the right word, just challenging, especially when you get the rain involved,” Scheffler said. “When you get a wet ball into the wind, it’s amazing how short it goes. I think it was No. 2 today, I had 165 to the pin off a slight upslope, and I hit a hold 5-iron, which for me usually goes about 205. It went probably 155 at the most. And I striped it.”
Lowry, the Open champion at Royal Portrush five years ago, hit his stride around the turn. He birdied the seventh from about 10 feet and hit wedge to 10 feet at the par-3 eighth, the famed “Postage Stamp” that caused so much damage for a 123-yard hole.
He also made two big pars, including a 25-foot putt on the 10th, before holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the 11th to reach 4 under. Lowry ended his round with a wedge to 5 feet for his 66.
The applause kept getting louder, and Lowry kept reminding himself it was only Thursday.
“For some reason I felt like he crowd were getting very excited out there,” he said. “It was late in the afternoon — a few pints of Tennent's were had out there ... and it felt more like the weekend. I just kept on telling myself there’s a lot more to do and there’s a few days left, so I just kind of stayed in my lane and hit some good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I handled myself.”
Thomas played earlier in the day and was at 4 under through 11. He just had to work hard to keep a good score on his card.
His tee shot landed in a bush on the tough 12th hole that required a penalty drop, and he missed a 4-foot putt and made double bogey. His next drive took a wild hop into grass so deep his caddie called out to the gallery, “Last call. Anyone see the other ball to the right?” They eventually found it, but it led to bogey.
“A little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back nine but stayed patient and kept plugging,” Thomas said.
Indeed, Thomas managed to keep it together. He avoided another bogey with a 12-foot par putt, and finished with a 6-iron to 8 feet for birdie on the 17th and a birdie on the 18th that showed how much the wind was helping — 4-iron off the tee, wedge into 25 feet on the 458-yard closing hole.
Justin Leonard, a winner at Royal Troon in 1997, returned for the first time since 2016 and was given the honor of the opening tee shot with the shiny claret jug positioned nearby on a podium. He had an 80, one of 12 rounds of 80 or higher.
McIlroy broke 80, but not by much.
He was hopeful of one last chance this year to end his drought in the majors that dates 10 years. Now McIlroy only wants to make it to the weekend. He took two to get of a bunker on the Postage Stamp, and then sent his drive on the 11th over the railroad tracks and out-of-bounds. He couldn't solve the wind.
“You play your practice rounds, and you try to come up with a strategy that you think is going to get you around the golf course. Then when the wind is like that other options present themselves, and you start to second-guess yourself a little bit,” McIlroy said.
“The conditions were tough on that back nine, and I just didn’t do a good enough job.”
