The umbrellas are up. The rain is falling.

A few wry smiles in the galleries.

Peter Scrivener
BBC Sport at Royal Troon

Live commentary of this opening round will get under way on BBC Radio 5 Live at 10:00 BST - and you'll be able to listen via this webpage too.But reporter James Gregg is already out on the course providing updates into the Breakfast show. At around 07:20 he played out a lovely interview with England's Justin Rose, who says it's "still a dream" to win the Claret Jug at the age of 43, as much as it was when he made his debut as a 17-year-old amateur and chipped in at the last to finish fourth at Royal Birkdale in 1998.

"I didn't know i had to qualify until last minute," he said. "I just missed top 50 in the world by a couple of places in the rankings, so the prospect of qualifying came in June.

"The Open has been front and centre of my schedule all year, so when you're in a precarious position you think what have I got to do to be in it. Qualifying at Burnham & Berrow was my opportunity to get into the field.

"It would have been nice to be down there relaxing with a few mates and a beer rather than qualifying for The Open but it was a cool experience. There's enough pressure through fear of not making it.

"It was the first time I've played links golf in a year and I'd forgotten what a rugged course Bernham is so it was good preparation."

Rose is away with an iron down the 365-yard first, a little right and in the long stuff.

Image source, Getty Images

Strike a light!

Adam Scott has just warmed up the crowd on the first green by finding a touch of magic out of the bunkers to sink for a birdie.

He joins the early leaders at one under par.

Image source, PA Media

Can you believe it's 26 years since a fresh-faced teenager called Justin Rose burst onto the scene at Royal Birkdale and finished fourth in The Open as an amateur?

Now 43, Rose - who was tied for sixth at this year's US PGA Championship - is having another crack at winning the Claret Jug for the first time... although he needed to come through qualifying to take his place in the field.

"I've got a lot of work to do still, I feel like I do need to turn around my form and turn around my confidence with that," the 2013 US Open champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist said.

"But I've seen a lot of evidence in my practice this year that my game's not a million miles away.

"You've obviously got to take it to the golf course but I know that the raw power, the horsepower and the game is lurking."

Image source, Getty Images

Australia's 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott is striding down the first after getting his Open Championship under way.

This is his 93rd consecutive appearance at a major - the next best is Jordan Spieth at 44.

He had to qualify this time but showed signs of some serious form by running Bob MacIntyre close last week at the Scottish Open.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre should be full of confidence at Royal Troon after winning last week's Scottish Open, six weeks after his first win on the PGA Tour at the Canadian Open.

The left-hander, 27, has made the cut in his four previous Open appearances and registered top-10 finishes in the top 10 in 2019 and 2021.

There would be few more popular winners.

The best player at majors this season has been Bryson DeChambeau with a victory at the US Open, a runners-up finish at the US PGA Championship and a sixth-placed finish at the Masters.

He has harnessed the energy of the crowds so far in 2024 and been omnipresent on major leaderboards.

But, he's only finished inside the top 30 once in seven attempts at the Open - and Royal Troon is not somewhere that screams distance off the tee.

Expect Rory McIlroy to be in contention - after all, he has regularly hovered near the top of Open leaderboards since his debut in 2007.

He won at Royal Liverpool in 2014 but was unable to defend his title a year later at St Andrew's because of an ankle injury he sustained playing football with friends.

The Northern Irishman has only missed two cuts in 14 previous Open appearances.

We thought it looked dangerous for Todd Hamilton at the third after he fluffed his first bunker attempt and so it proves.

He's chipping off the green to save bogey and leaves himself six feet. Missing that means an ugly triple for the 2004 champion.

We have a birdie!

The first gained shot of the 152nd Open comes courtesy of Japan's Ryosuke Kinoshita who has just drilled in from 34 feet on hole one.

Let's see some more red now please.

Peter Scrivener
BBC Sport at Royal Troon

Image source, Getty Images

The biggest cheer on the first tee so far this morning has been for Ayrshire native Jack McDonald, who makes up the three-ball that set off first.

He is alongside 1997 Troon Open winner Justin Leonard, and 2004 champion Todd Hamilton, who both acknowledged the support for the local lad.

McDonald played against Bryson DeChambeau in the Palmer Cup (a tournament pitting US college and university golfer against the rest of the world), a decade ago.

This is his first Open though, after coming through qualifying at nearby Dundonald. He is the grandson of Gordon Cosh, who played in the famous 'Duel in the Sun' Open at Turnberry in 1977.

A steady start for Jack, who has had two pars either side of a bogey in his opening three holes.

Not since Tiger Woods was in his pomp has there been a more dominant force in men's golf than Scottie Scheffler.

The 28-year-old American and world number one has been in astonishing form in 2024, with the Masters and the Players Championship among his six tournament wins during this calendar year.

As these early groups continue their meander along the Ayrshire coastline, shall we have a look at who should be in the mix this week?

Ouch. A grisly one for former champ Todd Hamilton at the third as he gets accustomed with one of the Open's evil pot bunkers.

He shanks his first effort straight into the face and has to settle for just chunking his ball out at the second attempt.

Already one over through two, he'll almost certainly be coughing up another shot here.

There have been 89 different winners of The Open in its 151 previous editions, with 27 of them winning the event more than once.

I'd expect to see a fair few of the above in contention once again on Sunday.

We've already seen Justin Leonard (1997) and Todd Hamilton (2004) start their opening rounds and there are 19 former Open champions taking part in the 2024 event.

Among them are John Daly (1995), Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke (2011), twice-champion Ernie Els (2002 and 2012) and the most recent winner at Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson (2016).

Image source, Getty Images

An opening par for Tom McKibbin after landing his second shot 16 feet from the hole.

His putt is on line but lacks juice and comes up short.

His playing partners join him in signing for a four.

Peter Scrivener
BBC Sport at Royal Troon

Image source, Getty Images

There was a brief pause before play got under way to remember Ivor Robson, who passed away in October last year at the age of 83.

Described by the R&A as "one of the most distinctive voices in golf", began his career at Carnoustie in 1975 and retired in 2015.

He delivered the famous "On the tee..." introductions in his gentle Scottish accent at The Open and many other tournaments.

"Before continuing, we would like to remember the great Ivor Robson, starter of the Open for over 40 years. We are joined this morning by his daughter Julia, son Philip, and their partners representing the family," said David Lancaster, who replaced Robson as starter in 2016.

Here's where the flags are positioned for the opening round today, some tucked pins here - especially the third!

Our opening group are heading there now.

Image source, The Open

So we're under way in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.

You can find a full list of tee times for the first and second rounds here but here are a few names to look out for on Thursday:

• 07:52: Justin Thomas
• 09:36: Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Jon Rahm
• 09:47: Ludvig Aberg, Bryson DeChambeau
• 09:58: Brian Harman, Viktor Hovland
• 10:09: Tyrrell Hatton, Max Homa, Rory McIlroy
• 14:26: Wyndham Clark, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama
• 14:37: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Tiger Woods
• 14:48: Collin Morikawa
• 14:59: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith
• 15:10: Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth