Rory McIlroy admitted it was nice to talk about golf rather than the Olympics after his opening round in the Open, but was not about to change his opinion on the subject.
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In the lengthening shadows at Royal Troon on Thursday evening, at the end of the most glorious day for links golf imaginable, Phil Mickelson stood over a 20-foot putt for a 62 and an indelible moment of history.
The last six British Opens held at Royal Troon have been won by Americans and Dustin Johnson, the hottest player in golf, looks like he has all the credentials to send the US into seventh heaven this week. “I wanna cry”, Mickelson said.
Reed shot 5-under-par 66, and three others from the US recorded 67s – Justin Thomas, Steve Stricker and Billy Horschel.
Jordan Spieth joined the long list this week, meaning none of the world’s current top four will be present in Brazil, and Rory McIlroy – who announced in June he would not compete – launched a scathing attack on golf at the Olympics on Tuesday. He had a 73. The group containing former champions Sandy Lyle and Duval as well as British amateur champion Scott Gregory took 23 shots between them.
A day after McIlroy enhanced the widely held and entirely erroneous belief that male golfers are a bunch of selfish, pampered individuals who are only interested in making as much cash as possible, Rose did much to emphasize that there are plenty of men in the game who do want to give back and help grow the game. 1 and 2, and an 8-footer on the treacherous par 3 eighth “Postage Stamp” hole.
“HGH (Human Growth Hormone), you can’t really pick it up in a urine test”. I mean, he couldn’t hit a better putt. The most surprising of these names, and arguably the one that made U.S. Ryder captain Davis Love III the happiest, was Phil Mickelson’s old partner Keegan Bradley, who had dropped off the map but is tied for fourth after a 67. His hope is that it clears out by the time he tees off in the afternoon. “I think drug testing in golf is still quite far behind some of the other sports”.
Favoured in all three majors this year, he still can’t seem to get off to a good start.
Darren Clarke carded a level-par 71 but Graeme McDowell has work to do to make the cut after firing a four-over 75.
Royal Troon is relatively short (3,445 yards) and available for scoring on the front nine (par 36), but is long (3,745 yards) and increasingly hard on the back nine (par 35) largely because of a left-to-right wind in the face.
“To come over here and see the sun, I felt like today was a lot easier than what I’ve had to deal with all last week (at the Scottish Open)”, Reed said. “It’s just one of those that [if] you see it go in, you believe in how you hit the putt, you match the speed and the lineup, that belief is there throughout the front nine”.
“Obviously I feel like I do my bit to grow the game”. His curling 15-foot putt for birdie circled the hole on 18 before settling just outside it.
He stared for the longest time at a leaderboard next to the 17th green, realizing that even par wasn’t going to cut it on a ideal day as this. “I think if I would’ve stepped on the first tee and someone would have given me a 69, I probably would have taken it”. He missed the par putt and made the turn at 1-under.
In his first round at a major since winning the U.S. Open, Johnson played a round that usually gets rewarded at a U.S. Open – 14 pars, two birdies, two bogeys.
Americans have won the past six times the British Open was at Royal Troon. In that year, Mickelson made one bogey over the last 55 holes. That will come in handy on Friday and Saturday when the weather rolls in and tries to blow scores back down towards even par.
“This was pretty heartbreaking”, said Mickelson.
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That’s true at any major.
