So why the nerves?
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Asked about being the man teeing off the tournament, he said: “Fantastic”. He was a flawless fit for the U.S. Open, which he famously won at Oakmont in 1973 with the first 63 in major championship history.
He did so a few weeks later in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
“I do get nerves, or stress, or whatever you want to call it, but I like it”.
Watch the featured groups in action on the first day of The 145th Open at Royal Troon for free on SkySports.com and Sky Sports’ mobile apps.
The toughest stretch comes at 10, 11 and 12, a trio of extremely challenging par fours, before the course turns back towards home.
Day bogeyed the 15th hole and double-bogeyed the 16th while laying up off the tee, and fell by three shots.
“Sometimes you stand up there and think you can play shots that are not percentage shots, and being able to hit away from certain locations”.
Thomas, making his Open debut, birdied his first four holes as well as the seventh before also bogeying the 10th.
The commemorative sign on the main road outside Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, reads “Chella Choi Drive” in honor of her breakthrough victory past year in the Marathon Classic. It was a proud moment for the 53-year-old Scotsman but things soon were looking bleak after his 6:35 a.m. start.
His second shot landed in what he described as a “horrendous” position and he couldn’t get the ball out of the bunker.
“I know the risk is very low but, if something were to happen, I’d never forgive myself for that. It would have been easy to score 78 there, simple”.
Montgomerie was 3 under for the front nine and 3 over for the back nine.
But he fell back to -2 after bogeying the 11th, while Justin Thomas led on -4.
Royal Troon’s other course, the highly regarded Portland, was designed by Alister MacKenzie, he of Augusta National Fame.
Colin Montgomerie is the gift to golf that just keeps giving. He played them in even par to win by three.
The veteran Scot started with a double bogey on his childhood course.
McIlroy’s round was in danger of unravelling when he fired his approach over the 13th green and compounded the error by three-putting for a double bogey, before dropping another shot on the next after failing to get up and down from a bunker.
The 27-year-old believes his career will be judged by the number of major titles he wins and set about trying to make it five after recovering from an unconvincing start at Royal Troon to card four birdies in the space of five holes.
Most encouraging of all: The lead threesome took just under two hours to complete the front nine.
The Irish Sea was blue from abundant sunshine. Who will be on top of the British Open Leaderboard after this round?
There wasn’t an empty seat in the grandstand next to the first tee, where the silver claret jug was on a podium. Five dogs were on the beach.
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McIlroy, who missed the cut at the U.S. Open and who is searching for his best form, said a lot would depend on how hard the wind blows over the four days.
