What happened to favorites Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau at British Open?

First of all, you have to be a beyond serious golfer to go out and play in the weather that typically happens at the British Open.  During the first round at Royal Troon Golf Club, spectators were zipped up in multiple jackets, and many wore hats.  It’s stuff I used to wear in Illinois, Massachusetts, or Ohio in November.  Late November.  And it is mid-July there. This is what passes for summer in Scotland.   

Right now, one golfer who grew up in similar conditions and has already won a British Open, Shane Lowry, is leading. But as we all know, there’s many a slip between the first round and the final putt. And there are some shocking results after just 18 holes.

Rory McIlroy is already 7-over par. Seven. He was short of the green in two on the 1st, and it took him three more to get into the hole. At the Postage Stamp hole, his tee shot landed in the right greenside bunker, really a small cavern with sand at the bottom. It took him two shots to get out and onto the green and then two more putts to get what was a 14-footer into the hole. 

“I felt like I did okay for the first part of the round and then missed the green at the Postage Stamp there and left it in and made a double,” he said after his round.

“I was actually surprised how difficult I felt like the back nine played. I thought we were going to get it a little bit easier than we did.”

He said the wind was completely different than the practice days at the British Open.

On the 11th, he hit over the railroad tracks on the right side of the hole, which must have been kind of cool, but it was OB. He had to re-tee and add a shot to his score.  He must have been somewhat annoyed because his third shot (second drive) went 375 yards to the left rough.  It was just a few inches outside the fairway, but at the British Open that can be some wispy grass or a gorse bush. It was grass or he’d probably still be there.

“You play your practice rounds, you have a strategy that you think is going to help you get around the golf course, but then when you get a wind you haven't played in, it starts to present different options and you start to think about maybe hitting a few clubs that you haven't hit in practice,” McIlroy added. “Just one of those days where I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions.”

With only one birdie and four additional garden-variety bogeys, he was at 7-over when he left the course. Disappointing, for sure. He was not alone in disasters.

Bryson DeChambeau is now 5-over par.  He also said it was a completely different course than the one they had practiced, meaning the wind direction.

He had one double, at the 6th where he had a typical DeChambeau adventure. His tee shot only went 288 yards into the left rough. (What was he using, a putter?) The lie was so bad he could only advance it a few yards. Then his next shot was to the adjoining fairway.

“It was a thick lie and I tried to hit a 7-iron out, and I didn't get it high enough,” he explained. “I thinned it a little bit and caught the stuff and came out dead, and then I tried to open face a 5-wood and squirted off the left side of my face and just shot left.”

His fourth landed, mercifully, 25 yards from the hole.  His fifth shot got him onto the green, and it took him two more to get the ball in the hole. No amount of physics is going to make that feel better.   

Ever positive, DeChambeau said, “I'm just proud of the way I persevered today. Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, I'm going home. But no, I've got a chance tomorrow. I'm excited for the challenge.”

He said he needed an equipment adjustment.

The problem is, after first rounds like this, how will McIlroy, DeChambeau, and others who had similar issues ever get close enough to contend at this point?  Here are some others in trouble already: 

Cameron Smith, who won the British Open a couple of years ago, before the LIV switch, is 9-over.  He only had four holes that were pars. Three were birdies. One was a double.  Everything else, he bogeyed. (Of course, he has that LIV cash.)

Max Homa started with a double. He only had two birdies, but he added five bogeys for a 5-over 76.

Sahith Theegala started well, but he doubled the 4th hole and had six additional bogeys. The double started when he pulled his tee shot 287 yards to the left rough.  He hacked it out 162 yards into the center of the fairway, then visited two different greenside bunkers, never a good idea, before finally getting a ball on the green. He ended up about 40 feet from the pin and took three more to get the ball in the hole. Theegala is 6-over par after round one.

Akshay Bhatia had a double and three bogeys and the rest were pars, and just like that, he’s 5-over par and in 96th place after round one.  Bhatia is tied with Sam Burns, Gary Woodland, Will Zalatoris, Bryson DeChambeau, and many others.    

The changeable British Open weather must be the punishment for living amongst some of the world’s most interesting and historic courses or being a visitor to the championship. However, the less-than-ideal conditions do make for bad bounces and often very bad scores. It’s a miracle anybody actually ends up winning.