McIlroy three back as Fitzpatrick shares Open lead

The Open leaderboard, round one

-4 Olesen (Den), Li (Chn), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Bezuidenhout (SA), English (US); -3 Jordan (Eng), Scheffler (US), Kawekanjana (Tha), Hatton (Eng)

Selected: -2 Westwood (Eng), Rai (Eng), Rose (Eng); -1 Rahm (Spa), Lowry (Ire), McIlroy (NI), Kimsey (Eng); Level MacIntyre (Sco); +1 McKibbin (NI); +2 Fleetwood (Eng); +4 Harrington (Ire), Clarke (NI)

Full leaderboard

An erratic Rory McIlroy thrilled and frustrated in equal measure as Matt Fitzpatrick ended an intriguing opening day of the 153rd Open Championship in a five-way tie for the lead on four under.

The hype and expectation surrounding McIlroy had been palpable.

Thousands of fans greeted him onto the first tee and followed his every move around Royal Portrush as he returned to play in his native Northern Ireland for the first time since completing the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters in April.

And after a nervy bogey on the first, the cheers began to radiate across the links. Three birdies in his next six holes. A fourth followed on the 10th and he was suddenly three under par and one off the lead.

Was he about to banish the Portrush demons of six years ago where he hit his opening tee shot out of bounds on his way to a quadruple-bogey eight, a 79 and eventual missed cut?

Not quite.

His driving had been inconsistent - he hit just two of 14 fairways - but he was still finding greens. The errors off the tee, however, eventually caught up with him.

Three bogeys in the next four holes - including a six on the easiest hole on the course, the par-five 12th - saw him slide back into the pack.

A birdie on the 17th added a little gloss as he ended a round that took 10 minutes short of six hours to complete on one under par.

"I had it going at three under and let a few slip around the middle of the round," said McIlroy. "I steadied the ship well and it was nice to shoot under par.

"Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am."

He is one of 31 players under par and just three behind Englishman Fitzpatrick, who was out in the morning wave and had battled through the worst of the weather.

The 2022 US Open champion slam-dunked a chip for birdie on the notoriously difficult par-three 16th to join unheralded Dane Jacob Skov Olesen and China's Li Haotong at the top of the leaderboard.

They were later joined by American Harris English and South African Christian Bezuidenhout, who, like McIlroy, enjoyed drier, if slightly windier conditions.

Another Englishman Matthew Jordan briefly reached four under but is one back after a 68 and alongside compatriot Tyrrell Hatton and world number one Scottie Scheffler.

The American's driving was also unreliable and he hit just three fairways, although he claimed he drove the ball well off the tee given the conditions.

"When it's raining sideways, it's actually, believe it or not, not that easy to get the ball in the fairway," he said.

Lee Westwood, who finished fourth when The Open last visited this course in 2019, is alongside another Englishman, Aaron Rai, on two under. Justin Rose made that a trio late on after producing the day's only bogey-free round.

Ireland's Shane Lowry, who won here amid tumultuous scenes in 2019, was out with Scheffler in the rain, and posted an opening 70.

"Any time you shoot one under par around Portrush in those conditions, is decent," said Lowry.

Defending champion Xander Schauffele had three bogeys and three birdies in a level-par 71, the same score as Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who had been three under after eight.

A first English winner in 33 years?

The last Englishman to lift the Claret Jug was Sir Nick Faldo, at Muirfield in 1992. But with six players in the top 10 at the end of day one, English fans could be forgiven for getting a little giddy.

Fitzpatrick arrived on the Antrim coast in good form after a joint fourth at last week's Scottish Open.

He holed a 22-foot eagle putt on the second and added birdies on the short sixth and long 12th before spectacularly atoning for an errant tee shot into the ravine on the par-three 16th - called Calamity Corner because it has wrecked many a round.

He could only laugh with his caddie after flicking a wedge out of the rough and straight into the hole.

"It was just an all around good day," said the Yorkshireman, whose best finish at The Open is joint 20th here in 2019. "I felt like I did everything well. Drove it well, approach play was good, and chipped and putted well."

Jordan, who grew up at Royal Liverpool and finished joint 10th there after being given the honour of hitting the opening tee shot at the 2023 Open, briefly got to four under with a birdie on the 12th. Successive bogeys were followed by a birdie on the 15th in a fine opening round.

Westwood also got to four under, with a birdie on the 12th, but bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes dampened the end to his round of 69.

The former world number one, 52, only booked his place in the championship by coming through final qualifying at Dundonald earlier in July.

His wife Helen, who is also his caddie, had been planning a boat trip round the French Riviera, instead she has been lugging his bag round in the rain.

Hatton, who like Westwood, is yet to win a major, played the front nine in 33 and closed with seven successive pars to end the day one off the pace.

Rose, who was beaten by McIlroy in a play-off at Augusta in April, produced a typically gritty round with two birdies and 16 pars to join Rai.

Phil Mickelson, the 2013 champion, opened with a 70 which included a magical par save from a bunker, and was then asked for some memorabilia by his playing partner Ryan Peake, the former gang member who served five years in prison for assault.

"He was a hero of mine growing up," beamed Peake, who hit a six-over 77. "My old boy is out here and he loves him as well.

"I grabbed his putter off him a few times and had a little feel of it. That's the OG - the one from the Masters.

"His caddie was giving out golf balls and I yelled, 'What about me?!' He had a laugh and thought I was being sarcastic but I said 'deadly serious' and could he sign a glove as well."