British Battlegrounds: The Open Omen

07/21/2023

By: Jeff Yoder

Royal Liverpool Devours Scorecards With Treacherous Round 1 at The 151st Open Championship

Thoughts and prayers to all the golfers cursing under their breath at Royal Liverpool this weekend. The opening round of The 151st Open Championship reminded players that this course was unlike anything else in golf. The hard-to-hit fairways, hellish bunkers, and evil pin placements took golf’s greatest players for a ride on Thursday. Multiple golfers found themselves needing two or three shots just to escape the bunkers (see Rory McIlroy in the photo above). The final four holes are brutal, but the 17th Hole in particular was a scorecard-shredder. And if the nightmare holes weren’t enough, Viktor Hovland got pooped on by a bird. How’s that for a bad omen?

The Open Omen

We saw Justin Thomas (+11) completely collapse after bunker-bouncing his way through the back-nine. Joaquin Niemann (+7) was also a pawn in the carnage. More mild breakdowns still took the hearts of Phil Mickelson (+3), Dustin Johnson (+3), Jon Rahm (+3), Justin Rose (+3), and Bryson DeChambeau (+3). Most of the American superstars were lucky to post red numbers, but a few international players stepped up. The top of the leaderboard belongs to Tommy Fleetwood (-5) — an Englishman who lives 20 miles from Royal Liverpool — Argentinian Emiliano Grillo (-5), and the amateur underdog from South Africa, Christo Lamprecht (-5).

Open Championship Leaderboard (Round 1)

T1. T. Fleetwood (-5)

T1. C. Lamprecht (-5)

T1. E. Grillo (-5)

T4. A. Rozner (-4)

T4. A. Otaegui (-4)

T4. B. Harman (-4)

Other Notable Scorecards: S. Cink (-3), W. Clark (-3), M. Homa (-3), J. Spieth (-2), P. Reed (-1), P. Cantlay (-1), B. Koepka (-1), S. Scheffler (-1), X. Schauffele (-1), H. Matsuyama (-1), S. Im (-1), K. Bradley (-1), V. Hovland (-1), R. McIlroy (E), J. Day (+1), A. Scott (+1), C. Smith (+1), R. Fowler (+1), T. Finau (+2), C. Morikawa (+2) | Full Leaderboard

*Scores Subject to Change With Round 2 Underway

Round 1 Highlights | Round 2 Tee Times

Live Blog & Leaderboard (Live Now)

FOX Sports: Justin Thomas Shoots 11-Over 82, Finishes With Brutal Quad-Bogey

CNN: A ‘Monstrosity’ or Great? Controversial 17th Hole Splits Opinion at Open Championship

Photo: Richard Heathcotte / Getty Images