148TH BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Quite a show: Holmes out front; McIlroy shoots 79

Rory McIlroy (middle) receives help as he looks for his ball in the long rough on the first hole during Thursday’s fi rst round of the British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. McIlroy finished with a quadruple bogey on the hole and shot an 8-over 79 for the round.
Rory McIlroy (middle) receives help as he looks for his ball in the long rough on the first hole during Thursday’s fi rst round of the British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. McIlroy finished with a quadruple bogey on the hole and shot an 8-over 79 for the round.

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- An emotional opening shot by Darren Clarke. A shocking one by Rory McIlroy.

Tiger Woods had his worst score to start a British Open. Brooks Koepka quickly got into contention again.

David Duval shot 91.

The Open returned to Royal Portrush after a 68-year absence and made up for lost time with an unusual amount of theater Thursday. When more than 15 hours of golf before a robust, sellout crowd finally ended, J.B. Holmes was atop the leaderboard at a major for the first time in 11 years.

Even that might have been fitting. The big hitter from a small town in Kentucky had his first taste of links golf at Royal Portrush during a college trip, and he recalled how the caddies kept giving him the wrong lines off the tee because they had never seen anyone hit it that far.

Holmes drove the downwind 374-yard fifth hole to 12 feet for a two-putt birdie, and he ended with a 5-iron into the wind to 15 feet for a final birdie and a 5-under 66.

"You just have to accept the conditions over here and not get too greedy," Holmes said.

He had a one-shot lead over Shane Lowry of Ireland, who didn't have the level of expectations or the connection to Royal Portrush like McIlroy, Clarke or native son Graeme McDowell, all of whom grew up in Northern Ireland and never imagined golf's oldest championship returning to their tiny country.

"I feel like for me I can come here a little more under the radar than the other guys," Lowry said.

That wasn't the case for McIlroy.

He was the betting favorite who, as a 16-year-old, stunned Irish golf with a 61 to set the course record at Royal Portrush in the North of Ireland Amateur. The throaty cheers went silent when his tee shot went left and out of bounds, struck a fan and cracked the screen on her cellphone. He went into a bush and had to take a penalty to take it out, and he walked off the first green with a quadruple-bogey 8. McIlroy finished with a triple bogey for a 79.

"I'm going to go back and see my family, see my friends, and hopefully they don't think any less of me after a performance like that today," McIlroy said. "And I'll dust myself off and come back out tomorrow and try to do better."

Woods didn't seem quite as optimistic.

That magical Masters victory in April is quickly turning into a memory as Woods struggles to find the balance between playing and making sure his back holds up. He has played only 10 rounds since Augusta National, and this was one to forget. Woods three-putted for bogey on No. 5, bladed a chip on No. 6 for a double bogey and stretched his arms in mock triumph when he finally made a birdie -- his only birdie -- on No. 15.

He ended with another bogey for a 78, matching his third-worst score in a major.

"Playing at this elite level is a completely different deal," Woods said. "You've got to be spot on. These guys are too good. There are too many guys that are playing well and I'm just not one of them."

The Dunluce Links held up beautifully in such lush conditions, and so did the reputation of Northern Ireland's ever-changing coastal weather. There was a blue sky and dark clouds, a strong breeze and a stiff wind, shadows and showers, all within an hour's time.

"I took on and put off my rain gear probably at least nine times in nine holes," Matt Kuchar said.

Even so, the scoring was good, without anyone being great.

The large group at 68 included Koepka, who has won three of the last six majors and looked very much capable of adding the third leg of the Grand Slam. Koepka was tied for the lead at one point until he made his lone bogey on the 17th hole. He has been runner-up twice and won the PGA Championship this year. He started out the final major in a tie for third after the first round.

As usual, Koepka keeps it simple, and it helps to have Ricky Elliott as his caddie. Elliott grew up at Portrush and knows the course as well as anyone.

"It's easy when he's just standing on the tee telling you to hit it in this spot and I just listen to him," Koepka said. "I don't have to think much. I don't have to do anything. I figure out where the miss is and where I'm trying to put it and then go from there."

Jon Rahm, a two-time Irish Open winner at nearby Portstewart and in the south at Lahinch two weeks ago, joined Holmes and Webb Simpson as the only players to reach 5 under at any point during the day. The Spaniard was particularly sharp around the greens, controlling chips and putts beautifully. He ran out of luck late, however, missing a 5-foot par putt on the 16th and dropping another shot on the 18th.

Even so, 68 was his best score in his fourth British Open.

Duval had his worst score in any tournament -- 91 -- mainly from the jolt of a bad swing on a tough hole, compounded by an oversight. He never found two of his own tee shots at the par-5 seventh, hit the wrong ball in the process and with all the penalty shots had a 14, the second-highest score in 159 years of the British Open.

"Just one of those God-awful nightmare scenarios that happened today," Duval said. "And I happened to be on the end of it."

Forty-one players broke par, and 15 of them were within three shots of the lead.

Leaderboard

148th British Open

Royal Portrush Golf Club

Portrush, Northern Ireland

Par 71, 7,344 yards

First of four rounds

J.B. Holmes 34-32--66

Shane Lowry 33-34--67

Alex Noren 34-34--68

Webb Simpson 34-34--68

Sergio Garcia 35-33--68

Dylan Fritelli 35-33--68

Robert MacIntyre 33-35--68

Kiradech Aphibarnrat 35-33--68

Ryan Fox 39-29--68

Tyrell Hatton 35-33--68

Tommy Fleetwood 34-34--68

Brooks Koepka 34-34--68

Lee Westwood 34-34--68

Tony Finau 35-33--68

John Rahm 31-37--68

British Open at a glance

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- A glance at the first round Thursday of the British Open at Royal Portrush:

LEADING J.B. Holmes with a 5-under 66.

TRAILING Shane Lowry had a 67, while 13 players were at 68.

LOCAL FAVORITES Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot out of bounds and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on his way to a 79. Darren Clarke shot an even-par 71, while Graeme McDowell made a triple bogey on the final hole to shoot 73.

TIGER TALES Tiger Woods shot a 78, his worst start in the British Open and third-worst score in a major championship.

RORY'S ROUGH START McIlroy's 79 beat only five other players in the 156-man field.

BEST HOLE Emiliano Grillo had a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th.

HISTORIC It was the first time the British Open has been played in Ireland since 1951, the only other time it has been played outside of England and Scotland.

NOTABLE Ryan Fox was 10 shots better on the back nine with a 29, the first player in British Open history to break 30 on the back nine.

British Open tee times

All times Central (a-amateur)

12:35 a.m. Tom Lehman, United States; Joaquin Niemann, Chile; Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain.

12:46 a.m. Beyong Hun An, South Korea; Jorge Campillo, Spain; Chris Wood, England.

12:57 a.m. Joel Dahmen, United States; Adri Arnaus, Spain; Dimitrios Papadatos, Australia.

1:08 a.m. Stewart Cink, United States; Rory Sabbatini, South Africa; Innchoon Hwang, South Korea.

1:19 a.m. Erik van Rooyen, South Africa; Kurt Kitayama, United States; Jake McLeod, Australia.

1:30 a.m. Ryan Fox, New Zealand; Shaun Norris, South Africa; Dongkyu Jang, South Korea.

1:41 a.m. Tyrrell Hatton, England; Keith Mitchell, United States; Thomas Pieters, Belgium.

1:52 a.m. Justin Thomas, United States; Tommy Fleetwood, England; Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark.

2:03 a.m. Brooks Koepka, United States; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Shubhankar Sharma, India.

2:14 a.m. Billy Horschel, United States; Jazz Janewattananond, Thailand; Aaron Wise, United States.

2:25 a.m. Jordan Spieth, United States; Marc Leishman, Australia; Danny Willett, England.

2:36 a.m. Cameron Smith, Australia; Adam Hadwin, Canada; David Lipsky, United States.

2:47 a.m. Paul Lawrie, Scotland; Chez Reavie, United States; Justin Harding, South Africa.

3:03 a.m. a-Takumi Kanaya, Japan; Tom Lewis, England; Brandon Stone, South Africa.

3:14 a.m. Lucas Glover, United States; Joost Luiten, Netherlands; Nino Bertasio, Italy.

3:25 a.m. Ernie Els, South Africa; J.B. Holmes, United States; Abraham Ancer, Mexico.

3:36 a.m. Brandt Snedeker, United States; Lee Westwood, England; Brian Harman, United States.

3:47 a.m. Justin Rose, England; Tony Finau, United States; Lucas Bjerregaard, Denmark.

3:58 a.m. Dustin Johnson, United States; Jason Day, Australia; Keegan Bradley, United States.

4:09 a.m. Tiger Woods, United States; Matthew Wallace, England; Patrick Reed, United States.

4:20 a.m. Jon Rahm, Spain; Patrick Cantlay, United States; Matt Kuchar, United States.

4:31 a.m. Kevin Streelman, United States; Doc Redman, United States; Robert Rock, England.

4:42 a.m. Adrian Otaegui, Spain; Yuta Ikeda, Japan; Isidro Benitez, Mexico.

4:53 a.m. Patton Kizzire, United States; Sang Hyun Park, South Korea; Yuki Inamori, Japan.

5:04 a.m. Yoshinori Fujimoto, Japan, Doyeob Mun, South Korea; Andrew Wilson, England.

5:15 a.m. Gunn Charoenkul, Thailand; Yosuki Asaji, Japan; Ashton Turner, England.

5:36 a.m. Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland; a-James Sugrue, Ireland; Charley Hoffman, United States.

5:47 a.m. Emiliano Grillo, Argentina; Sung Kang, South Korea; a-Thomas Thurloway, England.

5:58 a.m. Andy Sullivan, England; Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Africa; Alex Levy, France.

6:09 a.m. Chan Kim, United States; Zander Lombard, South Africa; a-Brandon Wu, United States.

6:20 a.m. Richard Sterne, South Africa; Romain Langasque, France; a-Mattias Schmid, Germany.

6:31 a.m. Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Matt Fitzpatrick, England; Andrew Putnam, United States.

6:42 a.m. Bubba Watson, United States; Eddie Pepperell, England; Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain.

6:53 a.m. Phil Mickelson, United States; Shane Lowry, Ireland; Branden Grace, South Africa.

7:04 a.m. Alex Noren, Sweden, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, France; Sam Locke, Scotland.

7:15 a.m. Webb Simpson, United States; Sergio Garcia, Spain; C.T. Pan, Taiwan.

7:26 a.m. Ryan Palmer, United States; Andrea Pavan, Italy; Dylan Frittelli, South Africa.

7:37 a.m. Kyle Stanley, United States, Bob MacIntrye, Scotland; Andrew Johnston, England.

7:48 a.m. Mikko Korhonen, Finalnd; Oliver Wilson, England; a-Curtis Knipes, England.

8:04 a.m. Ian Poulter, England; Sungjae Im, South Korea, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand.

8:15 a.m. Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Xander Schauffele, United States; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland.

8:26 a.m. Li Haotong, China; Russell Knox, Scotland; Bernd Wiesberger, Austria.

8:37 a.m. Jason Kokrak, United States; Connor Syme, Scotland; Austin Connelly, Canada.

8:48 a.m. Zach Johnson, United States; David Duval, United States; Corey Conners, Canada.

8:59 a.m. Francesco Molinari, Italy; Bryson DeChambeau, United States; Adam Scott, Australia.

9:10 a.m. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Gary Woodland, United States; Paul Casey, England.

9:21 a.m. Rickie Fowler, United States; Kevin Kisner, United States; Hideki Matsuyama, Japan.

9:32 a.m. Jim Furyk, United States; Si Woo Kim, South Korea; Jimmy Walker, United States.

9:43 a.m. Luke List, United States; Alexander Bjork, Sweden; Paul Waring, England.

9:54 a.m. Shugo Imahira, Japan; Nate Lashley, United States; Benjamin Hebert, France.

10:05 a.m. Mikumu Horikawa, Japan; Callum Shinkwin, England; Garrick Porteous, England.

10:16 a.m. Prom Messawat, Thailand; Matthew Baldwin, England; Jack Senior, England.

photo

AP/JON SUPER

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the third hole during Thursday’s first round of the British Open. He finished at 7-over 78, his worst score to start a British Open and his third-worst round in a major tournament.

photo

AP

American J.B. Holmes has the lead after the first round of the British Open, shooting a 5-under 66 on Thursday to lead Shane Lowry by one shot and a group of 13 golfers by two shots.

Sports on 07/19/2019

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