By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Sunlight streaked through a few low-hanging clouds when Padraig Harrington opened the British Open with a piercing 3-iron into the wind. Darkness began covering Royal Portrush nearly 16 hours later Thursday night when the final group trudged off the 18th green.
One of the longest days was also among the more fickle in the 165 years of this major.
Five players from five countries tied for the lead at 4-under-par 67, the biggest logjam in this championship since 1938. There was sun and there was rain, a wee breeze and big gusts, and the Open wasn’t even three hours old.
The one predictable part Thursday: Scottie Scheffler right in the mix.
And what make the massive throng at Royal Portrush tolerate rounds that approached six hours was seeing their favorite son, Rory McIlroy, birdie the 17th to recover from a bad patch on the back nine and join the 31 players who broke par.
Former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England handled the notorious “Calamity Corner” par-3 16th by chipping in for birdie. Harris English, the unflappable American whose longtime caddie couldn’t get a travel visa for the UK because of prison time served 20 years ago, put his short-game coach on the bag and made seven birdies.
They were joined by Li Haotong of China, Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark.
One shot behind was Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player who has not finished out of the top 10 in the last four months, a stretch that includes another major among three wins.
McIlroy made bogey on the opening hole with an entire country behind him – that was still three shots better than his start in 2019 – and overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch with a key birdie on No. 17 that allowed him to break par at 70.
“Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago,” said McIlroy, who hit only two fairways. “I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.”
Scheffler only hit three fairways in his round of 68.
It’s not that golf’s best were necessary wild off the tee. There was that small matter of weather, often the greatest defense of links golf, which brought the occasional rain, the constant wind and rounds that nearly last six hours.
That’s why Scheffler seemed perplexed about so much attention on his accuracy off the tee.
“You’re the second guy that’s mentioned that to me,” Scheffler said. “I actually thought I drove it pretty good. I don’t know what you guys are seeing. When it’s raining sideways, believe it or not (it’s) not that easy to get the ball in the fairway.
“Really only had one swing I wasn’t too happy with on the second hole,” he said. “But outside that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple of rounds.”
There also was his 4-iron to 3 feet on the 16th for birdie, the start of birdie-birdie-par finish.
But no one could go extremely low.
Olesen, the British Amateur champion last year, was the first player to get to 5 under until a bogey at the last. Bezuidenhout was the only player from the afternoon wave to join the crowd at the top.
Fitzpatrick reached a low point in his game at The Players Championship and appears to be back on track, particularly with what he called a well-rounded game in tough conditions on these links. He is coming off a tie for fourth last week in the Scottish Open.
The chip-in was his highlight, from well below the green to the right, into the cup on the fly.
“A bit of luck, obviously,” Fitzpatrick said. “Sometimes you need that. It just came out a little bit harder than I anticipated and on the perfect line.”
Li might have had the most impressive round, keeping bogeys off his card, by holing a 10-foot par putt on the final hole.
Another bogey-free round belonged to 44-year-old Justin Rose, in the group at 69 that included 52-year-old Lee Westwood, former Open champion Brian Harman and Lucas Glover, who was tied for the lead until a pair of bogeys early on the back nine.
Harris walked along with Ramon Bescansa, a former player, occasional caddie and mostly known for teaching putt and chipping.
Eric Larson, who has caddied for English the last eight years, was denied a new travel visa required for the UK. Among the red flags is anyone serving more than 12 months in prison. Larson served 10 years for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a case of knowing friends in the Midwest who wanted it and people in south Florida who had it.
Bescansa caddies for Abraham Ancer on LIV Golf, who didn’t qualify for the Open. English is in a crucial stretch of the season as he tries to make the Ryder Cup team. The lanky Georgian isn’t bothered by much, and he’s handled the disruption with ease.
The golf has been pretty steady, too
“Was looking forward to coming to this week, and immediately after playing the course, I really liked it,” said English, who didn’t qualify for the Open when it was at Portrush in 2019. “I loved how it frames the tee shots and you get to see a lot more trouble than you would on a normal links course.”
For everyone, the hardest part was staying dressed for the occasion. There were sweaters and then rain suits, and some finished their round in short-sleeved shirts. This is what is meant by “mixed” conditions in the forecast.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele had a mixture of birdies and bogeys that added to an even-par 71. Shane Lowry, the last Open champion at Royal Portrush in 2019, had the nerves of someone hitting the opening tee shot. He handled that beautifully, along with most other shots in the worst of the weather in his round of 70.
And this might just be the start.
“We’re going to get challenging conditions over the next few days,” Lowry said. “Today, for example, the 11th hole was like the worst hole to get the weather we got in. … I think there’s going to be certain times in the tournament where that’s going to happen, and you just need to kind of put your head down and battle through it and see where it leaves you.”
Padraig Harrington, a two-time Open champion, had the honor of the opening tee shot for the 153rd edition of this championship. He made birdie. And then he shot 74.
‘OLDER GENTLEMEN’ START STRONG
Phil Mickelson delivered more magic Thursday, leaving one shot in a bunker and holing the next one from 75 feet away for an unlikely par. He tipped his cap. He gave a thumbs-up to the crowd.
It looked like the Mickelson of old, especially with all that gray stubble in his beard.
Mickelson, who opened with a 1-under 70, already holds the major championship record for oldest winner, capturing the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island when he was 50.
Now he’s at the oldest championship in golf, the one that least discriminates against age. The Open is where 53-year-old Greg Norman had the lead going into the final round at Royal Birkdale in 2008, and more famously where 59-year-old Tom Watson was an 8-foot putt away from winning at Turnberry in 2009.
Mickelson, 55, was among three players 50 or older who broke par in the opening round, joining 53-year-old Justin Leonard (70) and the 52-year-old Westwood (69).
“The Open gives the older gentlemen a chance to win more than any other tournament,” Westwood said after a day in which he was tied for the lead early in the round until a few bogeys dropped him back.
Westwood is playing the British Open for the first time since he joined Saudi-funded LIV Golf in 2022, going through final regional qualifying three weeks ago to earn a spot in the field.
He has yet to win in LIV Golf and his results would suggest he is riding out the rest of his career. And then he showed up at the major he first played in 1995 – Scheffler was not even born then – and found some form.
Links golf helps.
“There’s not the premium on carrying traps. They don’t make it unplayable for us older guys with length,” Westwood said. “You can use your experience, guile and cunning on them.”
Westwood tripped over his words on the Sky Sports interview and then added, “Not easy to say, but easy to use at our age.”
Mickelson, who has not won since that historic day at Kiawah Island, had missed the cut in all three majors this year. He still has five more years playing the British Open as a champion at Muirfield in 2013.
He started strong with a deft touch with his wedge to easy birdie range on the par-5 second, but the real Lefty showed up on the next hole when he put his tee shot into a bunker, plugged and not far from the steep lip.
The first attempt barely got out, rolling on the edge of grass before tumbling back into the bunker. It looked like a bogey at best. But then he splashed out, carrying it some 25 yards and about 10 feet to the left, and the shot had enough side spin to drop into the cup.
He raised both arms. Mickelson loves moments like these, and he’s had plenty of them.
“That was a crazy one,” Mickelson said. “It was really one of maybe two poor shots I hit, that bunker shot that buried in the lip. And then to make it was obviously a lot of luck. I was just trying to save bogey, and I got lucky it went in.”
And then his name stayed on the leaderboard the rest of the morning – a birdie on the par-5 seventh, a couple of bogeys on the back nine, a 20-foot birdie on the 17th hole.
Mickelson had gone 21 consecutive rounds in a major without breaking par until Thursday. Sure, he had the advantage of missing the rain for all but the last couple of holes. But it was good golf. It’s still there.
“I played really well, and I had an opportunity,” he said. “I really enjoy playing these conditions and playing this tournament. It’s just a lot of fun.”
Not all of the 50-and-older gang had the best of times.
Padraig Harrington, coming off his win in the U.S. Senior Open, had the honor and thrill of hitting the opening tee shot. He made birdie on the first hole. That was the highlight on his card when he signed for a 74.
“I got a little emotional when I was clapped on, and then I calmed down, and I was kind of fine when I was hitting it,” Harrington said.
He three-putted two straight holes and had a lost ball on No. 10. It was an otherwise forgettable day, except for the unforgettable start of hitting the first shot.
“Yeah, it was a tough day on the greens, and it just ate into my game,” he said. “Might have been a little bit of the fact that I was hyped up for the first tee box. Who knows? Certainly felt like I played better, could have played better, should have played better.”
