England's Brown leads Open as McIlroy toils at Troon

Round one leaderboard

-6 Brown (Eng); -5 Lowry (Ire); -3 Thomas (US)

Selected: -2 Rose (Eng), Schauffele (US), Dean (Eng), Noren (Swe), Hojgaard (Den), Hughes (Can), Henley (US); -1 Wallace (Eng), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Scheffler (US); +1 MacIntyre (Sco); +2 Rahm (Spa); +5 Fleetwood (Eng), +7 McIlroy (NI); +8 Woods (US)

Full leaderboard

Unheralded Englishman Dan Brown holed a birdie putt in fading light at the last to sensationally take the lead after round one of The Open at Royal Troon.

The world number 272, playing in his first Open after only qualifying two weeks ago, nonchalantly knocked in an eight-footer at 21:35 BST to complete a stunning bogey-free six-under 65.

The 29-year-old, from North Yorkshire, is one ahead of 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, who also posted a bogey-free round in wet and windy conditions on the Ayrshire coast.

American Justin Thomas, with seven birdies in his round of 68, is two behind Irishman Lowry.

Justin Rose, who came through qualifying, closed with 11 straight pars and is in a group of seven on two under.

The 43-year-old, who says he will "keep believing" he can win an Open, is joined on that mark by, among others, fellow Englishman Joe Dean, European Ryder Cup players Alex Noren and Nicolai Hojgaard and American Xander Schauffele.

Matt Wallace briefly led on four under after a birdie on the short eighth, but a wayward drive on the ninth led to a triple-bogey seven and he is in a group on one under with English compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick, world number one Scottie Scheffler and Australia's Adam Scott.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, winner of last week's Scottish Open, opened with a one-over 72, one ahead of Spain's Jon Rahm and four better than England's Tommy Fleetwood.

But it was a dispiriting opening for Rory McIlroy, who slumped to a seven-over 78 and is 13 shots off the lead. The world number two said it "was one of those days where I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions" and that his approach on Friday would be "to focus on trying to make the cut".

That will also be the target for three-time champion Tiger Woods, who conceded he needed to "do a lot more work in the gym to progress and play more" after bogeying the last in posting a 79.

DeChambeau 'could have thrown in towel'

While Woods' round was perhaps not unexpected given his recent injury problems, McIlroy's came a little out of the blue.

He has performed well in the majors over the past three years, with eight top-10 placings in 11 starts, including last month's runner-up finish at the US Open.

The 35-year-old was at level par after seven holes on Thursday, a birdie on the third cancelling out a dropped shot on the first.

But the four-time major champion found trouble on Troon's two iconic holes.

His tee shot to the 118-yard par-three eighth 'Postage Stamp' landed on the green but trickled off right into a bunker and he took two to escape from the sand as he posted a five.

The Northern Irishman then sliced his tee shot on the par-four 11th 'Railway' on to the train track, carding a six on what has been the hardest hole in each of the past three Opens held here.

A run of three pars followed but the emotion spilled out after he hit his second shot on the par-four 15th into one of Troon's many penal pot bunkers. He found another on the last. Both led to bogeys.

McIlroy came to Royal Troon on the back of a solid performance at last week's Scottish Open, where he finished joint-fourth, but is perhaps still bearing the scars of his collapse at last month's US Open, where he dropped three shots in the closing four holes to lose by one to Bryson DeChambeau.

American DeChambeau also failed to sparkle in the dreary conditions. He was five over after seven and dropped another shot at the eighth.

"I could have thrown in the towel after nine and been like, I'm going home," he said.

The two-time major winner was seven over after bogeying the 15th but he was smiling after converting a 55-foot putt for eagle on the next, ending on five over.

"I'm proud of the way I persevered. I've got a chance, I'm excited for the challenge," he added.

Brown 'felt comfortable' with game

Also excited for the challenge ahead is surprise leader Brown, who had two birdies in his final three holes to pass Lowry.

He was playing in the next-to-last group out on the course and played through the gloaming to complete his round.

"It did get dark out there and a little bit tricky but the wind dropped as well," he said.

"You've got those bright yellow scoreboards out there so it's hard to miss, but I felt comfortable with my game.

"I'm very excited, but you've got to keep your feet on the ground, so I'm just going to go out and do the best I can [on Friday]."

'A great start but three days to go'

Lowry's 66 is his lowest first round in a major - the last time he was under par after round one at an Open, he won it, at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

"That doesn't mean anything, that was five years ago," Lowry said.

After opening with three pars, he holed three birdies in his next five holes to join Thomas, who had been among the early wave of players on day one, at the top of the leaderboard.

A further birdie followed on the 11th before another at the last.

"This is a great start but if I don't play well the next three rounds, it doesn't matter what I shot today," he said.

'Patient' Thomas reaps rewards

Thomas, who has won two US PGA Championship titles, rolled in four of his seven birdies on the front nine, including one on the eighth after coming within eight inches of holing his tee shot.

He overcame "a bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back nine" when a wild drive on the 12th cost him two shots and another went on the next, but said he was rewarded for staying "patient" with his closing pair of birdies.

"There are a lot of variables that you can't control on links golf," he told BBC Sport. "I feel like over 72 holes, you're going to have some things not go the way you want and I’m just trying to stay as even keel as possible."