Right, the second hole is one you really should be looking to birdie. I can tell you Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood are left off the tee but on this par five, there's a little room for error off the tee as you can get yourself back into it.

Brooks Koepka and JB Holmes have made pig's ear of this drag and both have knee knockers left for par.

Koepka first.... 12 footer... pulled. Bogey-bogey start. Ugly. Rancid. Nightmare stuff.

JB... in from four feet for par. Double-bogey-par start. Ugly. Rancid. Nightmare stuff.

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Let's all do a rain dance. The wet stuff brings the drama...

Image source, .

Iain Carter
BBC Sport golf correspondent at Royal Portrush

A clenched fist from Lowry as he limits the damage with that putt. That was so important.

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport at Royal Portrush

A slight anxiousness in the air already among the Portrush fans - deathly silence as Shane Lowry’s par putt missed on the first. A cheer to greet the damage-limiting bogey.

The lead slips to three, and in comes the rain.

Shane Lowry, hands in pockets, walks the fairway to reach his ball in a pot bunker. Out she comes, onto the green but 40ft left for his par. That rattling you can hear isn't the pipes in your house, it's his nerves right now.

Here comes the long putt for par... good line... a bit light. He will now have eight feet left just for bogey.

Over to Tommy Fleetwood for birdie, this could be a big swing. The ball breaks left to right and that's a poor miss from inside 10ft. Par.

Back to Shane, man he needs this to settle a few things.... pours it in like he's emptying a Guinness into his favourite glass.

THE LEAD IS THREE.

Jon Rahm is going to have to pull something special out of the bag if he is to rescue what has, so far, been a shocker of a round.

A double bogey on the first was followed by a par and bogey to put him on three over and a whopping 12 shots off the pace.

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What a recovery from Lee Westwood! He bogeyed the first, remember, but now he's gone birdie-birdie at two and three. At the par three third he chips blind from some thick stuff over a bump - and the ball rolls straight and true and in!

Danny Willett birdied at two as well, so these two are staying in touch.

Andrew Murray
BBC Radio 5 live reporter at Royal Portrush

Bit of a nervy start for Shane. His second shot finds the bunker. He didn't make the right contact.

Love this. Love it. Pressure golf.

Shane Lowry comes out of rough and into sand on one. He will face a treacherous up and down now. Over to you Sir Tommy of Fleetwood... can you apply a bit of pressure.

Up the ball goes, reaches its apex and starts coming down... silence... boom... six feet from the flag.

Someone phone Shane Lowry and tell him it's on.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Here's what Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood are facing.

Portrush head professional Gary McNeill: "A very good start with potential for real drama. Placement off the tee is key. There is a bunker on the right at 262 yards and one on the left at 291 so the guys will hit something that does not reach that second hazard. It will be a mid to short iron up a steep incline to the green. If they are attacking a front pin, a false front comes into play and balls could easily spin back down the hill. The majority will be happy with an opening par."

Big mover Justin Thomas is up into a share of fifth place.

The American has knocked in four birdies over his first eight holes and is four under for the day, eight under overall.

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A warning for Lowry and Fleetwood in that JB Holmes is now putting for double-bogey on the green up ahead of them. He went out of bounds off the tee remember, then hacked up to the green. His putt from the fringe leaves 10ft for a double, so it could get worse.

Brooks Koepka was way left off the tee peg and now has around 12ft left for par.

Big kudos to Holmes, who puts his putt away for a six and drops back to eight under. Brooks now... pulls it. Bogey.

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Iain Carter
BBC Sport golf correspondent at Royal Portrush

Lowry's tee shot goes into the deep rough. It could have been worse but it could have been a lot better.

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Mark Chapman
BBC Sport presenter

Last Sunday saw a momentous day in British sport with England winning the World Cup led by an Irishman. Is Irish sport going to have another mometous Sunday afternoon?

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport at Royal Portrush

A ripple of applause for Tommy Fleetwood on the first tee, an almighty roar for Shane Lowry. Wow.

Image source, Reuters

"This is game number 37. On the tee from England... Tommy Fleetwood."

Tommy teels up an iron, blue long-sleeve top on and a black cap. That's the best tee shot we've seen for a while on the first, up the middle.

"On the tee from the Republic of Ireland, Shane Lowry."

Massive, massive roars. A swing and a grimace and it's left, into rough. Big Shane has a sleeveless jacket on... always a risky look.

A couple of Shane Lowry quotes from yesterday evening.

Q. Can you tell us, did you do anything particular last night to bring yourself down? Will you do anything tonight to bring yourself down or do you not want to come down?

"I actually -- to bring myself down I watch myself on TV, I watch the highlights on BBC. No, we have a house this week. My wife and kid and my coach and a couple of friends if there. My brother is here tonight. No, we just do the same thing we do every night, watch TV."Q. What do you watch, the BBC, anything else? "Be lying if I said Love Island (laughter). We've got a good Irishman in there."Q. That's not going to bring any man down, is it? "No, look. Same thing as any other person my age. Just chill out, like do nothing. Lie back on the couch and watch TV. There's not much else on TV."

Rickie Fowler's out of bounds effort at the first has set him back - he can only double bogey to slide back to six under straight away. Justin Rose, by contrast, safely negotiates for a par.

Andrew Cotter
BBC Sport commentator at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

The atmosphere last night was if it was a Sunday night, as if it was done. But sleeping on that four shot lead, he lead by four from Dustin Johnson going into the final round of the US Open in 2016 and lost.