British Open 2019: Takeaways from a wild first round at Royal Portrush

The first round of the 2019 British Open was a roller coaster ride, and more than a few players probably want to step off already. Here are my takeaways from the early action at Royal Portrush.

From stunning panoramic views, to classic Irish weather, tight fairways, and island size letdowns, the 148th British Open certainly has delivered on its promise thus far to be an instant classic.

Darren Clarke, winner of the 2011 British Open and Northern Ireland native, hit the opening tee-shot of the championship on his way to shooting an even par first-round. Before the tournament began, few would have expected the sheepishly charming 50 year-old to be the top Northern Irishman after 18 holes. Tied for 44th, that’s exactly where Clarke stands. The bookies must be happy.

2001 British Open winner, David Duval, left his usual Golf Channel analyst seat to participate in the championship. After a first round score of 90, Duval will be challenged to find his way back to set on Saturday, let alone a golf hole in his second and surely final round at Royal Portrush.

Defending champion Francesco Molinari finished his first-round three over par with a score of 74. Not that it matters.

Of the favorites to win the tournament, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka have ascended near the top of the leaderboard. Koepka finished the first-round at three under par and tied for third, aided by the local knowledge of his caddy, who is a longtime member at Royal Portrush.

Rahm briefly lead the championship but backed off on his second nine, finishing the first-round tied for third at three under par. Rahm missed the cut at last year’s British Open but seems to have figured out links golf, winning the Irish Open two weeks prior to the start of this year’s championship.

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J.B. Holmes will sleep with the first-round lead tonight (not to be confused with Irish doppelganger Shane Lowry currently in second). After bogeying the first hole of the championship, Holmes made six birdies en route to a day one 66. All good rounds start with a bogey.

Three-time British Open champion, Tiger Woods, played his first round of competitive golf since the U.S. Open. And it looked like it. A first round score of 78 saw Woods sojourn in the lush Irish fescue most of the day, possibly anxious to take in all of Portrush in case the championship never returns.

Woods’ uncharacteristically stable but melancholic attitude contrasted the capricious weather, which by my count, changed over 100 times from rain to wind to sun and back again. Woods is tied for 144th.

Returning to Portrush for the first time since 1951, the British Open played host to the homecoming of Rory McIlroy, who was born nearby in Holywood, Northern Ireland. Famously shooting 61 at Royal Portrush as a 16 year-old, McIlroy stepped to the much-anticipated first tee with dreams of the being the subject of one of Ireland’s great triumphs.

Those dreams died quickly when McIlroy pulled his first tee-shot out of bounds leading to a quadruple bogey. Then died again after a three-putt on the 16th for double-bogey, and took one to the heart for good measure on the 18th bookending his round with a triple-bogey. McIlroy finished the day tied for 150th with a score of 79, just one shot back of Woods.

The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush are proving to be an excellent test of golf with trouble lurking inside every bunker, outside every fariway, and behind every cloud in the sky. True to British Open form, fortunes can change in the blink of an eye.