The Open day one: Plenty to look forward to as the action starts at St Andrews
The 150th Open Championship gets under way on Thursday.
Former winner Paul Lawrie got the 150th Open Championship under way in cool conditions at St Andrews.
The 53-year-old Scot, victor in 1999 at Carnoustie and originally given the honour of teeing off first on the Old Course 12 years ago, was first off at 6.35am.
A prevailing wind from the west meant most of the outward nine was into the breeze but it was not strong enough to cause any issues for the early starters, although it was forecast to pick up later in the day.
Lawrie and his playing partners Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, and Min-Woo Lee all made par at the 355-yard first.
Here, the PA news agency looks forward to the action in the final major of the year.
McIlroy braced for difficult challenge
Rory McIlroy was expecting St Andrews to play tough and get tougher as he began his latest Open challenge.
The 2014 champion was due to tee off at 9.58am at the Old Course alongside defending champion Collin Morikawa and last week’s Scottish Open winner Xander Schauffele.
There have been suggestions the game’s modern big-hitters could make the course look straightforward but, with fast and firm ground and likely wind, McIlroy is not convinced.
“I just think with the way the golf course is playing and how firm and fast it is, it’s just going to get super tricky by the end of the week.”
McIlroy believes the conditions could even play into the hands of none other than Tiger Woods.
“It’s going to be a game of chess this week, and no one’s been better at playing that sort of chess game on a golf course than Tiger over the last 20 years,” he said.
Course specialists?
Tweet of the day
Picture of the day
0635: Paul Lawrie, Webb Simpson, Min Woo Lee
0814: Francesco Molinari, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose
0958: Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele
1009: Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland
1326: Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
1459: Tiger Woods, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa
1510: Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Harold Varner
Weather forecast
