Nice ripple of applause as Bryson DeChambeau approaches the 12th green.

He's chipping from the fringe and kills it dead, beautifully next to the hole. A rare smile from the Californian as he continues a semblance of form.

His playing partners are coming back to join him though - bogeys apiece for Ludvig Aberg and Tom Kim.

Jon Rahm has been - let's say wayward - off the tee at times today.

Earlier, everything was going left. This one goes way right of the 13th fairway and lands in a gorse bush.

He takes a penalty drop and sends his third to the heart of the green, but he's left with a long putt of 40-odd feet to save par.

Image source, Reuters

Brian Harman has been the pick of this three-ball and his approach to the 12th finds the centre of the green.

The mid-range birdie putt doesn't drop and a train rattles by as he knocks in for par.

Very solid golf and very few silly mistakes from Harman so far - it's the method that won him the Claret Jug 12 months ago.

Finishing on level par won't be a bad score today.

Graeme Storm
Two-time European Tour winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

The fact he’s always there in the mix. We are all McIlroy fans and I don’t know anybody out there that has got a bad word to say about him

I think the argument comes because we all root for him to win these major championships. We all know how difficult the major championships are to win.

Tiger Woods has won 15 and people look at McIlroy and think he should be getting towards that number by the end of his career but it is so difficult and there are so many great players out here to beat.

Image source, Getty Images

Another dropped shot for Rory McIlroy as he hangs his nine footer right of the 10th hole.

The start of the back nine has punished Max Homa too as he makes bogey as well.

Very early days of course, but Justin Thomas leads The Open after a first-round 68 at Royal Troon.

The first three men's majors of 2024 were all won by American golfers.

Add on victories for Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark and Brooks Koepka in the final three majors of 2023 and that's six in a row for players from the United States.

Jon Rahm was the most recent non-American to win a major when he triumphed at the 2023 Masters.

The last time America swept all four was in 1982.

An excellent lag putt from the front of the green and Robert MacIntyre taps in to par the 12th.

Jon Rahm does likewise and then Tommy Fleetwood follows suit, although the Englishman's earlier travails on this hole mean his short putt is for bogey.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

All three drove into thick rough and we were part of a search party to find Max Homa's ball. Someone actually trod on it and that's how it was located.

That shows you how thick the rough is.

That looks an awkward lie for Rory McIlroy as his tee shot picks out perfectly the native area that splits the 10th fairway.

He will be clunking it out of the long grass. Hope your knees are feeling strong, Rory.

Predictably, it's a fine effort to get it out of there and he's on the fringe of the green.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Open champions Todd Hamilton and Justin Leonard played Royal Troon in a combined +20 today, which could reignite the debate on past winners getting invites to play in the Championship until they're 60, or 55 as it is now.

It's a a nice tradition, but is it clogging up the field and taking away chances for players who could genuinely contend from qualifying - Sergio Garcia for example?

Leonard still plays regularly on the seniors tour in the USA, but Hamilton has played just about once a year for the past five years - so should he still get a place in the field which numbered 159 before a couple of late withdrawals?

Should more places instead go to the qualifying events? Or maybe straight to LIV Golf? Give us a thumbs up for the veterans still playing or thumbs down for a rethink - and send us your comments.

Image source, Getty Images

Well, well, Justin Rose had to qualify for the Open this year but he's made the most of it with a bogey-free round of 69, which is some going around Troon today.

He's only once managed to better the T4 he achieved as a fresh faced amateur at Birkdale in 1998 and in fact has just three top 10s in the Open in total including that low amateur finish.

So maybe with the pressure off after qualifying and determined to enjoy the Open experience can lead to some success on the links this week?

Three straight pars for Bryson DeChambeau as he polishes up at the fiendish 11th hole.

That's certainly progression for the US Open champion.

He's followed in by Ludvig Aberg and Tom Kim.

Image source, Getty Images

Finish with a flourish!

We have a new clubhouse leader and Justin Thomas gets the final score his round arguably deserved.

He's rolled in from 26 feet at 18 and moves clear at three under.

Now, can he back it up over the next three days?

Keith in Felixstowe: Could someone make the holes a bit bigger for Tommy Fleetwood? He can't buy a putt dropping today.

And he's in trouble on 12, needing to hack out of the rough after a wayward tee shot...

Brian Harman sinks his close-range birdie putt and is back to even par for his round.

His playing partners both bogey the 10th, though, after missing the green to the right with their second shots.

You've no idea how long I've waited for Stephan Jaeger to do something like this just to use the Jaeger bomb headline!

The German may have felt like a stiff drink after following five straight bogeys on the front nine, with two more just after the turn, but the golfing gods have given him something to smile about with an eagle two on 13.

He's hitting out of the rough from 127 yards out but he finds the bottom of the cup to give the crowd something to shout about, something to smile about for himself and finally our favourite headline in golf...

Peter Scrivener
BBC Sport at Royal Troon

The wind has really picked up out on the links and is blowing strong and fast from a largely southern direction.

If you've only recently joined us today and don't know the Troon layout, that means it's pretty much in your face and hindering over most of the front nine and then at your back and helping on the way home.

James Gregg
BBC commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The standard has been set.

Justin Rose will be very pleased to see his name up in lights in a share of the clubhouse lead.

Australia's Adam Scott has signed for a 70 and finished at one under for the tournament.

Last week's runner-up at the Scottish Open would have been level with Justin Rose and company had he not found the creek on 16 and dropped a shot.

Fans at The Open often have to get creative to get a view of the action. Five Live commentator Alistair Bruce-Ball found these hardly souls braving the prickly gorse by the 11th tee.

Image source, BBC Sport