For the majority of this first day of the 152nd Open Championship, it felt impossible to rationalise what had come before. The scale of fireworks on the final day of the Open at Royal Troon in 2016 left every onlooker grasping and gasping for superlatives. Henrik Stenson versus Phil Mickelson felt like golf's equivalent of the rumble in the jungle.
Back in dreich Ayrshire - amid an infrequent wind and occasional squall carnage ensued. The undeniable clubhouse leader after round one is the venue itself. It is for others to assess the entertainment value attached to that. Troon terrorised.
Tiger Woods's latest humbling came as no shock but there were eyebrows to be raised elsewhere. Rory McIlroy, 78. Bryson DeChambeau, 76.
Tommy Fleetwood, 76. Ludvig Åberg, 75. Cameron Smith played the front nine in 43 while en route to an 80. Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama could not break par. Step forward the world No 272 Daniel Brown, on his major debut, who as darkness fell strode to the summit of the leaderboard. It was that sort of weird day.
On a par-71 course, the scoring average at one point touched 75. A 73 from Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton's 72 felt decent in scoring context. Hatton did not come anywhere close to a rant or a rave yet did articulate what had made the environment such a grisly one.
"I don't think you can put it down to one thing, I think it's a combination," Hatton said.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 19, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 19, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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