The Open 2018: first round – live!
9.43am BST
Tyrrell Hatton was highly fancied going into this week, off the back of a top-ten finish at the US Open and a good showing at last week’s Scottish Open. But he’s started out disastrously today: bogeys at 3, 5, 6 and now 7. He’s propping up the entire leaderboard at +4. Better news for Brandon Stone, who missed an eight-footer to become the first man to shoot 59 on the European Tour last week at Gullane - but won the Scottish Open anyway. He birdies 4 to join a big group at -1.
9.33am BST
And it’s another birdie for Danny Willett at 10! He sends his second straight at the flag, then rolls in the eight-footer with confidence. This is great to watch.
-4: van Rooyen (11)
-3: Southgate (11), Willett (10)
-2: Cantlay (6)
9.30am BST
Rafa Cabrera Bello, going well after an opening-hole birdie, yips from a couple of feet at 5. The ball nearly missed the hole altogether! He’s back to level par. Some positive moves at the top, though: another birdie for Patrick Cantlay at 6, and then Matt Southgate follows birdie at 10 with a monster rake at 11, and suddenly he’s -3. But he’s not top of the tree, because just as Southgate makes it, his playing partner Erik van Rooyen makes his fourth birdie of the day! He was very lucky that his approach didn’t topple into a greenside bunker ... but he took advantage of his break by rolling in a 15-footer. Flat-stick hotness reminiscent of Jean van de Velde in 1999; the denouement to that tournament obscures how many great putts the Frenchman made that week.
9.24am BST
Mickelson is wearing one of those travelling-salesman-style white shirts again. Buttons all the way down the front, collars and cuffs. It doesn’t look comfortable. And you thought the time he deliberately hit the moving ball at Shinnecock Hills was his biggest misjudgement of 2018. He sends his tee shot at 5 into a bunker, and while he does extremely well to smash his second towards the edge of the green, he leaves his chip well short, the ball rolling back down a ridge across the middle. It’s a bogey that drops him back to level par.
9.14am BST
“The players have had a relatively easy whack at the course so far.” So begins Chris Hainey. “Can’t wait for the wind to start picking up to make things more tricky for the players. Looking forward to seeing some random bounces and the course becoming more challenging over the next few days.” Yes, Carnoustie’s defences have been down in these benign conditions, and yet there are only nine players out there under par. It’ll be interesting to see how the later starters fare when the breeze picks up a bit. The latest to join the group at -1: Ross Fisher, with birdie at 6.
9.07am BST
Erik van Rooyen pars 9 and reaches the turn in 33. The South African debutant is certainly hot at the moment. We’ve already spoken of his tie for fourth spot at the Irish Open a fortnight ago, having led after 54 holes. What I neglected to mention was his second round at the Scottish Open last week: though he ended up missing the cut, he carded a 64 on the Friday, following up a 73, a victim of the absurdly low scoring at Gullane as much as anything else. He’s in good nick.
-3: van Rooyen (9)
-2: Willett (8)
-1: Southgate (9), Norris (7), Chappell (6), Cantlay (5), Mickelson (4), Cabrera Bello (4)
9.01am BST
The 2013 champ Phil Mickelson makes his first move. He sends his second at 4 straight at the flag, leaving himself a straight uphill putt from six feet for birdie. In it goes, and he joins a group at -1 now also joined by the up-and-coming Patrick Cantlay, who rolls in a delightful left-to-right putt up and over a hump from 25 feet on 5.
8.55am BST
The first email of the week, and it’s appallingly timed. “Yes Sandy! Yes Scott!! This is an absolute delight for long term Lyle-lovers!!!” writes Euan Hendrie, giddy with excitement at the great man’s confident start, and high on his morning coffee too, I’ll be bound. “The big man should walk this from here. I look forward to today and the rest of the week being a tartan procession. Yes!” And with that, it’s a three-putt bogey for Sandy on 10; he slips back to level par. Oh Euan! How could you!
8.50am BST
The reigning Japan Open champion doesn’t have much of a record in the British equivalent. Yuta Ikeda has competed on six occasions previously, missing the cut four times and never finishing higher than the tie for 38th he managed at St George’s in 2011. But he’s started well today, sending his second at 2 to a couple of feet and tidying up for his birdie. He’s -1, as is South Africa’s Shaun Norris, who finished tied for 62nd on debut at last year’s Open and has just birdied 6.
8.40am BST
Make that a one-shot lead! Because the in-form Danny Willett has just made it three birdies on the bounce, finding the par-five 6th in two big crashes and taking two careful putts. It would be a lovely story if Willett does well here this week; he’s been through the mill since his shock Masters win. Meanwhile a dropped shot for Martin Kaymer at 9, the result of finding the bunker down the right of the fairway with his tee shot. He turns in 36, level par.
-3: van Rooyen (7)
-2: Willett (6)
-1: Lyle (9), Southgate (7), Chappell (4), Cook (4), Cabrera Bello (2)
8.35am BST
Jhonattan Vegas is facing a race against time to make his 10.31am tee time. His entry to the country was held up due to visa issues, his flight has been delayed, and his clubs have been lost in transit. He’ll have to borrow a set if he makes it: he’s coming in from Glasgow by copter. Meanwhile van Rooyen sees a birdie putt stop on the lip at 7, but he wanders off the green smiling anyway. As you would when you’re two shots clear at the Open.
8.26am BST
Erik van Rooyen doesn’t really hit his eagle putt on 6, leaving it four feet short, the ball dying off to the left. But it would be a crime not to pick up at least a stroke after such a good second shot, and he knocks in the par putt to establish a two-shot cushion at the top of the early leaderboard. His former co-leader, Andy Sullivan, makes it back-to-back bogeys at the par-three 8th. He sent his tee shot to the left of the green, then overhit his chip across the putting surface and into a bunker. He gets up and down from the sand to limit the damage. Meanwhile news of some erstwhile Masters champions: par for Mickelson on 1, and another birdie for Willett at 5!
-3: van Rooyen (6)
-1: Lyle (8), Kaymer (8), Southgate (6), Willett (5), Chappell (4), Cook (3), Pieters (2), Cabrera Bello (1)
8.21am BST
It’s been a good year for Satoshi Kodaira so far. The 28-year-old from Tokyo won his first PGA Tour event, the RBC Heritage, pipping Kim Si-Woo in a play-off. But he’s never done well at the Open, missing the cut at Muirfield in 2013 and Troon three years later. On the 1st hole, he’s in a greenside bunker and staring at a high face. So he elects to chip out sideways ... then fluffs the shot and leaves his ball in the sand. He takes the harder route second time round, and ends up with an opening bogey. The first sandy meltdown of the week; it won’t be the last. Meanwhile at 6, the first eagle of the week is carded by Matt Southgate, who curls in a big right-to-left breaker at 6. He’s -1.
8.15am BST
Andy Sullivan pays the price for a poor tee shot at 7. He sends it into the thick stuff down the right, then gets a flyer through the green with his second. A long way off the back, he can’t get up and down and slips back to -1. Meanwhile on 5, Erik van Rooyen appears to be in the zone. He whip-cracks a long iron into the heart of the green, and will have a look at eagle from 25 feet or so. All of a sudden, the South African debutant could have a little cushion at the top of the leaderboard.
8.09am BST
Thomas Pieters has unleashed the driver at the opening hole. Belt! He crashes it 393 yards, into the heart of the green, and very nearly holes the 40-footer for eagle. He taps in for an easy-as-you-like opening birdie. So continues a good week for Belgian sport. Back on the tee, Phil Mickelson plays it more conservatively by cracking an iron down the middle. And some good news for the only Englishman to win the Masters in the last two decades! Danny Willett birdies 4 to move back to level par. Willett finished in a tie for sixth at St Andrews three years ago; what he’d give for a finish like that this week, to further facilitate his comeback.
8.00am BST
The first look at one of Carnoustie’s two par fives. This one, the 6th, is named after the 1953 champion Ben Hogan, and accordingly brooks no nonsense. Andy Sullivan finds sand with his tee shot and is forced to take his medicine and chip out. He’s a whisker away from making a 27-foot birdie putt, but par was always the likeliest result. Martin Kaymer hoicks his approach into deep rough to the right of the green but bumps a lovely effort to four feet. That’s a spectacular birdie given where he’d found himself. And Sandy Lyle thrashes his second to the back left of the big green, and lags his long eagle putt to kick-in distance. The great man’s in red figures again!
-2: Sullivan (6), van Rooyen (4)
-1: Lyle (6), Kaymer (6), Chappell (2)
7.48am BST
Lyle is currently using a putter called the Ugly Duckling. He gives it a hard slap around the beak after leaving an uphill 20-footer a good five feet short. Then he pulls the short par putt, and the 1988 Masters champion slips back to level par. Sullivan meanwhile races his lengthy birdie putt ten feet past, but knocks in the return to escape with a par. He remains at -2. And what a gorgeous up-and-down for Kaymer, whose approach took a big kick right into a thick tuft: he fashions a bump through a dip and up onto the green, using a right-to-left slope to gather his ball towards the hole. He gets to 12 feet or so, which is a result from where he was. And in goes the saver. He stays at level par.
7.40am BST
So how do you tame the Beast? David Leadbetter, legendary coach of Nick Faldo, has the answers.
Related: David Leadbetter’s guide to how players can tame Carnoustie
7.32am BST
Emiliano Grillo enjoyed his Open debut a couple of years ago at Troon. The young Argentinian finished in a tie for 12th. He’s started well this time round, clipping his second at 2 to a couple of feet, and knocking in the short birdie putt. He’s -1. Moving the other way: Martin Kaymer, who pulls a miserable short par putt left at 4 to drop back to level par. Good news for the German’s playing partners, though: Andy Sullivan’s second lands right by the flag, while Sandy Lyle spins his approach pin high to eight feet. Both of the birdie putts go in, and the 1985 champ walks off the green with a huge smile playing across his face! He’s one of five players under par right now: the 32-year-old Californian Kevin Chappell, who has a couple of high finishes at the US Open to his name, opens with a long birdie rake across 1.
-2: Sullivan (4), van Rooyen (3)
-1: Lyle (4), Grillo (2), Chappell (1)
7.20am BST
Erik van Rooyen has taken to this major-championship malarkey like a duck to water. Birdie at 2 to go with his opening-hole bird, after neatly tucking away the 12-footer he’d left himself, and he’s at the top of the early leaderboard. The 28-year-old South African qualified after tying for second at the Joburg Open late last year, and obviously enjoys links golf: he tied for fourth spot in the Irish Open at Ballyliffin a fortnight ago, having led the tournament after three rounds. And now look!
-2: van Rooyen (2)
-1: Kaymer (3), Sullivan (3)
7.14am BST
The first bogey of this year’s tournament has been made by Danny Willett. The 2016 Masters champion was on the 1st green in regulation, but raced a long birdie effort six feet past, and pushed his par putt to the right. He trudges off in the annoyed fashion. Willett has been slowly feeling his way back to a little form, with top-ten finishes in Italy and Ireland, plus a solid showing last week in the Scottish Open at Gullane. But that’s a poor start on a course that’s defenceless right now; there’s not a breath of wind.
7.10am BST
While the rough may not be at 1999 levels of hell, it doesn’t necessarily mean you want to go in it. Matthew Southgate, who finished in a tie for sixth last year at Birkdale, sent his tee shot at 1 into thick nonsense down the left, then got his club turned by the wispy grass as he wedged for the green. That sent his ball into trouble back left of the dancefloor, but he did very well to get up and down in two for his par.
7.05am BST
There’s going to be some wind coming up around midday. So these early starters will want to fill their boots. Sullivan shaves the hole at 2 with another birdie putt; his partner Kaymer joins him in the very early lead at -1 after knocking his second to six feet. Another par for Sandy, who remains at level. Sullivan and Kaymer are joined at the top of an admittedly not large pile by debutant Erik van Rooyen: the South African eased his approach at 1 to a couple of feet, and finished the job as expected. That’s not a bad way to start your major-championship career.
-1: Kaymer (2), Sullivan (2), van Rooyen (1)
E: Lyle (2), Schnell (1), Southgate (1)
6.56am BST
Lyle bumps a gorgeous chip from the rough to a couple of feet, and tidies up for an opening-hole par. His playing partners are the former US Open and PGA champion Martin Kaymer, somewhat out of form, and Andy Sullivan of England. Kaymer leaves himself a long birdie putt, and gets down in two. Sullivan - who finished high in Ireland recently, but missed the cut last week at Gullane - knocks his second pin high to 15 feet, and then gets a feel for the greens immediately. In goes the birdie putt, and for what it’s worth, let the record state that he’s the first leader of the 147th Open Championship!
-1: Sullivan (1)
E: Lyle (1), Kaymer (1)
6.51am BST
Sandy’s second into 1 isn’t too far from the pin. Unfortunately the pin’s on the right-hand edge of the green, and his ball’s in a tuft of thick stuff, just off. A word on the rough: you wouldn’t necessarily wish to be in it, but it’s not the thick, lush, nightmarish jungle of 1999. The good weather’s seen to that: it’s been burnt to a crisp and is much thinner as a result. No shaft-turning nightmares this week. OK, not so many shaft-turning nightmares this week. But that’ll inform some gung-ho tactics, no doubt, as the place isn’t so penal ... though others will be more than happy to clip irons off the tee and let the fairways, some faster than the greens, do the work, Tiger-at-Hoylake style.
6.40am BST
Good morning, Carnoustie! It’s going to be a beautiful day. It would be a beautiful day if it were forecast to lash with rain and blow up a gale ... it is the first day of the Open after all. But the conditions are special: it’ll be dry with plenty of sunshine. The honour of hitting the first shot at this year’s Championship goes to the 1985 winner Sandy Lyle, who is possibly playing in his last-ever Open: having turned 60 this year, he’ll no longer be eligible next time round. He whip-cracks an iron down the bone-dry, firm, super-fast fairways, and this year’s Open is go!
4.07pm BST
It’s probably not a popular viewpoint, but here goes anyway ... Jean van de Velde did NOT bottle the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie. The 33-year-old French journeyman certainly made a grand balls of it, standing in the Barry Burn with his troosers rolled up, his mental mechanism having departed in the same direction as his swing ... oh he made a balls of it all right. But he did NOT bottle it. In fact, that was the whole problem. Standing on the 18th tee with a three-stroke lead, he could have nudged it up the hole carefully and conservatively, and a bogey, or even a double, would have made him only the second French major champion in history, after 1907 Open winner Arnaud Massy. But instead, he wanted to seal the deal “like d’Artagnan”. See, that takes guts. And a commitment to doing things with style. The fact he wasn’t able to see it through is neither here nor there, because sport’s not just about winning: who’ll be talking about the likes of Todd Hamilton or Ben Curtis in a hundred years’ time? Exactly. Jean van de Velde: one of golf’s swashbuckling heroes.
But we are where we are, and it’s a shame that Carnoustie is nowadays synonymous with mental collapse. Sergio threw an Open away here as well, in 2007, though Padraig Harrington tried his level best to hand it him back, finding the Barry Burn twice going up the 72nd. But the thing is, some of the game’s most resilient characters have made great statements here on the Angus coast. It was at Carnoustie where Tom Watson gave lie to the accusation that he was a big-time bottler by landing the 1975 Open. It was on the 14th where Gary Player creamed a 4-wood over the Spectacle bunkers to a couple of feet in 1968, seeing off one Jack Nicklaus. And it was here where Ben Hogan, the Wee Ice Mon, arguably the greatest of all time, won the only Open he ever contested.
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