Rain squalls made life difficult for the early starters on the opening morning of the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon, before American star Justin Thomas braved the tough conditions of the Ayrshire Links golf course and took over the clubhouse tour.
Former two-time PGA champion Thomas appeared to be the biggest victim of the damp, difficult conditions on Thursday with no one able to mount an attack, but he quickly caught up and took an early one-stroke lead with his three-under-par 68.
The 31-year-old had the best start of any of the big names, moving to four under par straight after the turn, but was unable to maintain that gap and ran into trouble with a double bogey six on the twelfth hole and a bogey on the next.
But an 8-foot tee shot on the 17th hole and a 25-foot putt for birdie on the final hole put him in the lead, ahead of Sweden’s Alex Noren, Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard and Britain’s former US Open champion Justin Rose, who all shot 69.
Australia’s evergreen veteran Adam Scott also got off to a good start in his 24th consecutive Open at the age of 44. He began with a splash-in from the greenside bunker on the first hole, which led to a birdie and gave him the starting pad for a one-stroke-under 70 round.
Three birdies on the last four holes helped another Australian, Min Woo Lee, get back to par in his tough round.
But Bryson DeChambeau, fresh off his US Open triumph last month, appeared to be in deep trouble after trailing six over par at the halfway point and losing five strokes in his first six holes.
Like Thomas, South Korean Song Young-han finished four under par, but was derailed by a triple bogey seven on the difficult par-4 11th hole, while Englishman Matt Wallace, who enjoyed a chip-in eagle on the fourth hole, also lost three strokes in one go on the ninth hole.
Reigning champion Brian Harman, whose exceptional putting was instrumental in his victory at Royal Liverpool, shocked everyone when he missed a short putt on the first hole and was one stroke over par after eight.
World number one Scottie Scheffler was among the late starters, along with Australia’s best hope, 2022 champion Cameron Smith.
American Justin Leonard hit the first tee shot, but the 1997 winner smiled and said that was his only highlight, as he finished the match with nine over 80 shots.