We've found the key for Dustin Johnson to succeed this week, and that's for me not to mention him, as soon as I did he dropped a shot with a bogey on the fourth!

Sorry DJ....

Local lad Owen Crooks had the pleasure of being US Open champion JJ Spaun's caddy during the practice rounds this week.

"It was a great experience for me," he told BBC NI.

So what advise did he give?

"I cant be telling you that in case there's other golfers watching, can I?

"Telling him where I would hit ball, what greens do and what the wind directions are..."

Image source, Getty Images

If you've clicked on our live leaderboard at the top of the page, no it's not a mistake, that's Dustin Johnson currently tied for the lead after three holes.

DJ's missed the cut in all three majors this year and in six of his last eight and has faced questions about his motivation after joining LIV Golf.

But he's got some decent form in The Open with a T8 and T6 in 2021 and 2022 respectively so if he can find his mojo again we know he can thrive in links golf.

The first big number of the day belongs to KJ Choi - the South Korean has a triple-bogey six on the sixth.

His tee shot was long and right and into the long stuff. His first thrash to get out went one yard. His second went three. The Open can make even the best look like amateurs.

The 55-year-old, whose last PGA Tour victory was the Players Championship in 2011, is propping up the leaderboard.

It always slightly annoys me when a pro misses the fairway and their ball disappears into the bottom of the roughest of rough areas only for them to have a marshal right there to point out where it went.

I'm sure I'd be a scratch golfer if I didn't have so many dropped shots for lost balls in the rough!

Anyway, Nicolai Hojgaard 'finds' his ball down the right of the ninth and gives it an almighty heave greenwards, his ball coming to rest off the left edge. Tom McKibbin also in the long stuff and he chases one up on to the green and he's got a birdie look coming up.

US Open champion JJ Spaun says he will need "very similar skills this week" as he showed in his win at Oakmont.

"You've got to hit it straight off the tees," he says.

Fellow American Jordan Spieth, the 2017 champion, says "controlling your flight is the biggest deal".

"You are going to have of different things with the trajectory of the ball," he told BBC NI.

"It is my favourite kind of golf. It is my favourite tournament in the world for a number of reasons but a lot has to do with going and playing different links. Each presents their own unique challenge."

It's an untidy first bogey of the championship for Darren Clarke, who is short of the green on the par-three third and can't get up and down.

Big D won't be too happy about that.

Two-putt pars see our leader Nicolai Hojgaard and the man one back Tom McKibbin stay as they were after eight.

Padraig Harrington's opening birdie is fading into the distance though. A slightly wayward drive means he can't reach the green in two and then he misses an 18-footer for par.

So we haven't got Darren Clarke talking about the hole that's been named after him yet but we do have this rather fancy flyover.

Our opening group are about to embark on this tricky 432-yard par four.

Peter Scrivener
BBC Sport senior journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Just 13 birdies and one eagle out on the course in the opening couple of hours of play. Royal Portrush living up to its reputation as one of the planet's toughest tests.

Australian Ryan Peake has just holed his first, on the fourth, to get back to one over. He's got an interesting backstory if you've got a few minutes to spare...

The Open 2025: The ex-bike gang member competing at Royal Portrush

Phil Mickelson has a dart at the fifth green from the tee but he's just off target and the ball nestles into the rought short left. Another chance for a short game clinich coming up.

A rainy Open is what it's all about right...?

Barra Best
BBC News NI weather presenter

Those with early tee times have been enjoying the best of today’s weather, which is forecast to become more unsettled.

A Met Office weather warning for thunderstorms and heavy showers comes into play at 11:00 BST and lasts until 20:00.

The very nature of showers means that they are unpredictable and hit and miss, and so could avoid Royal Portrush altogether.

However, course conditions could deteriorate if showers hit, with waterlogged fairways and slower greens likely to post a challenge for players.

Having found the rough off the tee and then the greenside bunker with his second, Darren Clarke does well to engineer a 12-foot birdie opportunity at the par-five second.

It misses on the left.

Clarke struck the opening ball here in 2019, starting that year's championship with a birdie. He's being made to wait a bit longer for his first positive deviation away from par this week, though.

After that shaky start with two bogeys in his opening three holes, Tom McKibbin - the rising star from Northern Ireland who chose LIV Golf over a PGA Tour card - has got his eye in here.

Drive down the middle of eight, iron into about 20 feet to set up a birdie chance. Nicolai Hojgaard follows him and their balls are side by side.

American Chris Gotterup comes into this week in the best form of all, having won last week's Scottish Open.

Not only is this his Open debut, but it's his first time visiting Northern Ireland as well!

Here's how he booked his spot in the field, by taking down Rory McIlroy on Sunday...

A wondrous second shot from Lee Westwood sets up an early birdie chance for the Englishman.

Ten feet for the ideal start but it just grazes by the hole.

Still a very well played hole from a man who finished fourth here in 2019.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

There’s nothing quite like the Open for me. It’s the most historic golf championship we know and it still possesses that amazing magic.

It brings together the world’s best and it’s so special to be here in Northern Ireland because there’s such passion for golf in this part of the world.

Golf historians are going to look back at this portion of the 21st century and they are going to identify it as the golden age for the Emerald Isle.

This the last major before the Ryder Cup…that is going to be the big exclamation point on the golf season.

Padraig Harrington gets his third shot chasing up the green and his ball trundles just off the back edge, maybe 25 feet from the hole. He'll have a birdie look there.

Nicolai Hojgaard with a delicate chip in to around three feet. And the Dane tidies that up for a second birdie of the day.

Here's the eagle putt for Tom McKibbin, up and over a ridge, tracking nicely. Into the heart. The Northern Irishman is under par.

Contrasting fortunes for Harrington though who has a stern look on his face as his birdie try wanders long and wide. He makes the putt back.

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI senior journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

The biggest crowd on the course is still the one following the opening group - including a fair few wearing gear of Tom McKibbin's Legion XIII LIV Golf team - but plenty of those out here early are watching Phil Mickelson.

It's three or four deep around the fourth green... plenty hoping to see a bit of the magic that the 2013 champion just produced on the third.