Graeme McDowell is wearing a grimace rather than a grin as he holes out at eighteen.

He was three under after 14, but bogies at 15 and 17 were followed by a grim triple-bogey seven on the last, via a lost ball.

Image source, Reuters

Rory McIlroy hits some timber off the 15th tee and finds the first cut of rough. Brooks Koepka on six, par three, iron in hand, looks to cut one from left to right but it just stays left. He will have to putt across the entire green and it's a big one.

Back to McIlroy. If you're just tuning in he produced an eight on his opening hole today. The strike is good from the 15th fairway but he's a little short and will have a longer birdie putt than he'd have hoped for.

If you're heading out to Portrush this weekend, you might need to take a brolly...

Marc Leishman, perennial there-or-thereabouter at the Open, has dropped a shot at four to go to one over.

Plenty of time to suck out that dint though.

The sun shines on Tommy Fleetwood as he goes for a long birdie putt with the flag in on the sixth green. Not to be though.

Sarah Mulkerrins
BBC Radio 5 live at Royal Portrush

A spectator found McDowell's ball about 15 seconds after the match referee decided the three-minute time limit was up to find it.

Defending champion Francesco Molinari sets himself up another birdie chance on the 15th, but this time the ball stays out. Harsh.

Graeme McDowell has been ambushed over the final four holes of this course.

He can into the 15th nursing a three-under score and, after dropping shots on 15 and 17, has just lost his ball in the rough on the 18th.

A spectator found the errant tee shot, but only after the referee had called time.

Back he goes to the white boxes and he will be three off the tee. More scorecard damage incoming.

A downhill par four with the wind behind and Brooks Koepka on the tee. It can only mean one thing... go for it. He does so, landing a touch short but that's a chance if he can chip close.

Here comes the chip, he looks, then takes his stance, can he carry out his vision... yes he can. Just four feet left for birdie.

Groans on the 14th as Rory McIlroy leaves a birdie putt a fraction short.

T minus 51 minutes!

The first glimpse of Masters champion Tiger Woods on the range, sporting a blue cap and grey jumper in keeping with The Open branding.

Will he be supping from the Claret Jug for a fourth time in his career come Sunday evening?

He gets going at 15:10 BST.

Voting closes at 15:00 BST today. Watch the video below of the top-10 Open moments of the past 50 years (chosen by a BBC Sport panel of golfing experts) and select your favourite here.

The results will be announced in reverse order in the BBC Two highlights programmes over the next four days, which all begin at 20:00 BST.

Thursday's show will reveal 10-8. Friday's show will be 7-5, Saturday is 4-2 with the winner being revealed in Sunday's show.

Another birdie chance goes begging for Tommy Fleetwood. His effort on the par-four fifth curls round in front of the hole. Another par.

Justin Thomas pulls one back, though.

Xander Schauffele might already be thinking of what might have been from this weekend.

The American, three under after five, is now two over after 17.

The scoring is easiest early doors, but that is an ugly slump.

Graeme McDowell's round is taking a turn for the worse.

A bogey on 15 is followed by another on 17. And the Northern Irishman, the bounce in his step slightly deflated, is one under.

Both Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey go close with their birdie putts on 13 but there are no prizes for close in this game.

Pars. No fireworks.

Meanwhile, Kiradech Aphibarnrat downs a 35 footer on 18 to each three under. Humongous putt for a man with a humongous name.

Jordan Spieth come on down! The price is right for the three-time Major winner as he reels in successive birdies on two and the par-three third.

Playing partners Marc Leishman and Danny Willett are still level par.

It's not been the most fun day for defending champion Francesco Molinari.

Things are looking up now, though. The Italian knocks in a birdie on the par-four 14th. The charge starts here!

We love seeing how you're getting into The Open spirit. That may be with some office golf, which is far more important than anything the workplace can offer.

Thanks for this tweet Josh.

Image source, Josh

And of course, there is more bunker chat, as there has been all morning. Andrew Stead has taken on this beast in North Carolina. Andrew got the bunker chat going in this live text and has now sent two images in, which makes me think he spends a lot of time in the sand!

Sorry Andrew! And thanks for the wicked images.

Image source, Andrew Stead

Jordan Spieth, such a polite young man as we are frequently told, has a pot for eagle on the second.

Not enough prod to that putt though.

Graeme McDowell's second on the par-four 17th is in some geographical feature normally only ever seen on a GCSE paper. A rift valley? An oxbow lake? Something like that. Whatever, it is not his preferred lie.

That is a decent bit of cramming though.

He has a chance of making his par.