Rory McIlroy is among the leaders on four under after eight holes on day one of the Open championship in Royal Troon.
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The front nine offers a few stern par fours that Reed can take advantage of with his piercing trajectory from his iron shots.
“I got off to a pretty good start and then sort of from 9 onwards every time I hit a bad shot it was not very good and every time I hit a good shot I didn’t capitalise on it”, Leishman told the broadcast after his round.
Add to the mix the last six winners at Royal Troon have all been American and it appears to enhance Johnson’s chances along with those of compatriot and two-time major victor Jordan Spieth, who is not playing that well but still getting results.
Last year’s runner-up looked on fire when he birdied his next two holes and was suddenly 2-under through four and sharing the tournament lead with surprise-package South Korean Sanghee Lee.
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Scottish veteran Colin Montgomerie played the first tee shot of the championship as he went out in the first group of the day at 6:35am local time (07:35 SA time). 10 and 11. He is level par through 13 holes.
And although the world number four bounced back with a birdie on the 15th, at two under par he was four off the lead held by Porteous, who had completed a brilliant front nine of 30 thanks to birdies on the seventh and eighth.
His second shot landed in what he described as a “horrendous” position and he couldn’t get the ball out of the bunker.
“Top 10 in the world would have taken 71 there”, Montgomerie said.
“I just hope for everyone’s sake the weather’s fair and you don’t get what happened in St Andrews in 2010 there where the afternoon on the Friday just got blown away”, said the Scot. It doesn’t matter if the wind’s blowing or not, that back nine is tough.
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Montgomerie, widely considered the best player to have never won a major, qualified at age 53 for what likely will be his last Open, and certainly his last at Royal Troon. “You have to stay humble on it and you have to take your medicine if you hit a wayward shot to at least salvage bogey”. “I putted well. I made a lot of good putts and a lot of good saves, whether they were for birdie or par, double, even on one hole”. That sparked him to a 5-under 31 on the much easier outward nine, which generally plays downwind and was especially ripe for going low on this day.
