'Felt like 12 hours' - why are Open rounds so slow?

Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy took almost six hours to finish their opening rounds at Royal Portrush

One of the biggest bugbears for most golfers - whether you're a club player or one of the world's best - is a slow round.

The amount of time it takes to complete 18 holes can often be frustrating. There is seldom a thing as a quick knock - especially at The Open, where the ultimate test of links golf is a grind.

Gripes over the length of a round are a regular occurrence and frustrations were again aired on day one at Royal Portrush, with some players putting out on the 18th green almost six hours after teeing off on the first.

"It felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours," Australia's Marc Leishman, who plays on a LIV Golf tour which has smaller fields and a shotgun start, said with hyperbole.

"We've been on the course for three hours through eight holes.

"That was tough to deal with, especially coming from somewhere where we play in under four and a half hours every week."

The lack of flow around the Northern Irish course was down to a combination of several factors - BBC Sport analyses why rounds took so long.

Big fields & slow play

With a field of 156 players, The Open has the same number of players as the US Open and US PGA Championship - but does not have players starting simultaneously on the first and 10th tees like the American majors.

At Portrush, the first players teed off at 06:35 BST on Thursday morning, with groups of three going out every 11 minutes until the final group at 16:16.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy started his homecoming round at 15:10 BST and wrapped up at 21:04.

The final group - including English pair George Bloor and OJ Farrell - finished their rounds shortly after in near darkness.

While the frustration of Leishman and other players was clear, some believed little could be done to avoid five-hour-plus rounds.

"We couldn't have gone any faster," said Scotland's Robert MacIntyre. "I guess golf courses are too long."

England's Aaron Rai added: "It was a little on the slow side. But naturally with the challenging course, pace of play is going to be a little bit slower than normal."

However, recently-crowned US Open champion JJ Spaun was warned for slow play.

The American was part of a superstar group containing four-time major winner Jon Rahm and defending champion Xander Schauffele which took five-and-a-half hours to reach the 18th.

On the 17th, Spaun was given a 'bad time' warning for going over the 50-second time limit with his approach to the par-four green.

Under Open rules, Spaun was not penalised for the offence but will lose a shot if he receives another in Friday's second round.

The 'grinding' conditions

As the day wore on, the length of time spent on the course increased and the afternoon groups were the ones which bore the brunt of the delays.

McIlroy was playing alongside England's Tommy Fleetwood and American Justin Thomas, with the group needing four hours just to get through the opening 11 holes.

"That is extraordinary," said former European Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson, who is working as a BBC Radio 5 Live analyst at Portrush.

"It's a combination of things - the golf course just holds people up.

"When you're teeing off at 3:10pm it means the round will be extraordinary long - but it's one of the challenges of the Open."

England's Justin Rose believed the wet and wild conditions - making the Dunluce Links even more treacherous - were the biggest factor.

"It can happen sometimes. It got blustery as the day went on, so it was tricky - there were not many tap-in pars and go," said Rose, who is two under and was the only player to shoot a bogey-free round.

"There were a lot of five footers, with guys marking and reading putts.

"There was a lot of grinding going on, which does take a while."

Stray balls in 'the junk' & treacherous pin positions

With the winds whipping up, tee-shots were made even more difficult and led to plenty of wayward drives.

Going off target and landing in the thick rough led to more players spending time looking for their balls.

Tough conditions were illustrated by only 31 players shooting under par on day one.

"Major championships are long, and when you get out here on these blind tee shots with the wind, you're going to have guys hitting it in the junk," said US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.

"Then it's going to take a while to find it, and you've got to go back. It's just tough."

The set-up of the pin positions also contributed to the delays, according to former tour professional Graeme Storm.

Most of the pins were tucked away in the corners of greens, leaving difficult approaches where mistakes were severely punished and lengthy putts which needed longer to size up.

"I was speaking to a referee who said it would be a lot better if the pins were more accessible," two-time European Tour winner Storm said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"That's so the flow of play can get going and the pins aren't too difficult to get at. The pins so far this week have ben treacherous."

Log-jams around shorter holes

A notable pinch-point was around the fifth, six and seventh holes.

The fifth is a driveable par-four, followed by the par-three sixth and a par-five seventh which the big hitters could reach in two shots.

"As soon as there is any wait it ends up feeding back through the entire field," added Wilson.

South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who has a share of the overnight lead after hitting a four-under 67, was among the players who faced a long hold-up there.

"Because 90% of the field can reach the par-five in two, everyone has to wait," he told BBC Sport.

"It was frustrating and a 20-minute wait. But we could relax and chat - and it's the same for everyone."