The Open 2019: first round – live!
9.35am BST
Langasque didn’t have the sole lead for long. Coming up short at 8, he was only able to send his chip up from the bottom of a bank to 12 feet. He missed the putt, and he’s back in the back at -2. Meanwhile a simple two-putt birdie for Ian Poulter at 2: he’s -1.
9.30am BST
A super start for Xander Schauffele. Only Brooks Koepka has more top-ten finishes in the majors during the last couple of years. In the mix right up until the end last year at Carnoustie, it’s surely just a matter of time for the 25-year-old from San Diego. He’s unflappable. And in goes a long birdie putt at 1. Pars for his partners G-Mac and the 2016 champ Henrik Stenson.
9.25am BST
We have a new leader: Romain Langasque. The 24-year-old Frenchman is a man in form, having finished third at the Scottish Open last week, a couple of strokes behind the Bernd Weisberger / Benjamin Hebert play-off. He rattles in a 20-footer on 7 for his third birdie of the day. Meanwhile James Sugrue finds himself out of position on 11, and though he nearly rescues the situation with a 30-foot par putt, the ball stops a turn short. And his partner Darren Clarke, much to the gallery’s chagrin, makes his second bogey in five holes. Both slip out of the leading bunch, dropping to -1.
-3: Langasque (7)
-2: Pepperell (6), Lowry (5), Noren (5), MacIntyre (3), Johnston (3)
9.19am BST
Here comes another gallery favourite: Graeme McDowell of Portrush. He looks anxiously after his tee shot, an iron that just creeps into the thicker stuff down the left. But he might get a good lie. Whatever, he’s got an ear-splitting roar of support at his back. Wait until Rory rocks up in an hour’s time. Meanwhile Sergio has opened with four pars. He might have missed a short birdie effort at 2, but he’s since made a couple of missable par putts, so he’ll be in a reasonable enough mood. He’s level par.
9.15am BST
The biggest cheer of the day so far! Why, who could it be? It’s Beef, isn’t it. He finds the par-five 2nd in two big crashes, then rails home a 50-footer for the first eagle of the week! The gallery go wild, as Beef shrugs and smiles, soaking up the love. It’s so good to see the big man back on form. He’s going round with the young Scottish prospect Robert MacIntyre, and the shinty-loving 22-year-old from Oban has opened with a pair of birdies. No sweat, no fuss. And another birdie for Lowry, at 5. This is hotting up nicely now ... though nobody’s been able to make an early break for it.
-2: Clarke (10), Sugrue -a- (10), Langasque (6), Pepperell (5), Lowry (5), Noren (4), MacIntyre (2), Johnston (2)
9.10am BST
Another birdie for Padraig Harrington! This one comes at 5. He joins the leaders at -2 ... as does James Sugrue, the amateur bouncing back with birdie at 10. But then Harrington hands his shot straight back after a poor tee shot at the par-three 6th. His place at the top table is taken by Alex Noren: the 37-year-old Swede, who finished in the top ten in 2012 and 2017, follows an opening-hole birdie with a second at 4.
9.06am BST
Away from the golf, some local bobbies have got their panda car stuck in sand down on the beach. They’re wheelspinning away, trying in vain to reverse out of bother, and the tide’s coming in. Shoulders to the boot. Heave! No time to spare. Let’s hope they hoick their vehicle out of the big hole they’ve dug for themselves, else both officers find themselves standing impotently on the shore, watching their car bob off towards the North Atlantic, wondering what to tell the duty sergeant when they return, on foot, to the station. Nobody wants to see any of that.
8.56am BST
A slow start for the new lo-cal Lefty. Mickelson, slim as a rake after a six-day fast, leaves a chip at 4 well short, and isn’t able to scramble his par. He’s +1. Energy levels low? Meanwhile Sergio’s out and about, and having knocked his approach at 2 to eight feet, misreads the birdie putt and walks off shaking his head. He’s level par. And Darren Clarke reaches the turn in 34, saving his par at 9 after leaving a long putt short. The last three holes have been a struggle for Clarke, but he’s hung on in there.
-2: Clarke (9), Langasque (5), Pepperell (4)
-1: Sugrue -a- (9), Hoffman (9), Levy (7), Harrington (4), Lowry (4), Noren (3), MacIntyre (1)
8.47am BST
Beef at breakfast. Andrew Johnston hasn’t been on top of his game for a while now, struggling through some tough times, feeling low. But the wildly popular 30-year-old Londoner rediscovered his form at the Scottish Open last week, shooting a final-day 62 to grab one of the last places at this Open. He cracks an iron down the middle of the opening hole, receiving a welcome barely less wild than the one afforded local hero Darren Clarke at the start of the day. A lovely moment. Meanwhile birdie for another popular Englishman, Eddie Pepperell, this time at 4. He joins Clarke and Langasque in the lead at -2.
8.39am BST
Lovely birdie for Shane Lowry at the par-three 3rd. He sends his tee shot over the flag, then guides in a right-to-left curler from 20 feet. Loud cheers as he joins the group at -1. Up on 8, the first backwards stumble by James Sugrue, the amateur left with a ten-footer to save his par. He strikes the putt with confidence, but it lips out on the right. He’s back to -1. Meanwhile - apologies to Peter Hall (8.15am) for bearing bad news - Zander Lombard bogeys 5 to return to level par.
-2: Clarke (8), Langasque (4)
-1: Sugrue -a- (8), Hoffman (8), Levy (6), Harrington (4), Pepperell (3), Lowry (3), Noren (2)
8.30am BST
Dark clouds overhead. The wind picking up. But at least no rain at the moment. It’s going to be one of those days. A cloud of similar hue will be following Emiliano Grillo around right now: he’s run up a triple-bogey seven on 5, then followed it up with another dropped shot at 6. He’s just completed the easiest portion of the course in +3. His postman can stand down.
8.20am BST
Clarke nearly escapes 7 with an outrageous par. He putts from off the green, an uphill 50-footer with a big right-to-left break. It stops just one turn shy of dropping. But he’ll slip back to -2. Dreams are never meant to last.
-2: Clarke (7), Sugrue -a- (7), Langasque (4)
-1: Hoffman (7), Lombard (4), Harrington (3), Pepperell (2), Noren (1)
8.15am BST
He doesn’t get one. He’s forced to take an unplayable, and drops from knee height, as per the new rules. He slams his fourth towards the front of the green, and trudges towards it with both hands pushed low down in his pockets, another wry smile playing across his face as the rain begins to come down quite heavily. Birdie for Harrington at 3, though, as he knocks his tee shot to 20 feet and rolls in the straight putt he’s left with. And Pepperell joins him at -1 with birdie at 2. “Is Zander Lombard a possible dark horse?” wonders Peter Hall. “While he has had a generally poor season, he did well at Lahinch recently . . . and (little known fact). . . he was very narrowly beaten in the final of the Amateur Championship when it was held at Portrush a few years ago. So has good experience on these links.”
8.11am BST
A rainbow streams across the sky. Not quite so pretty: Clarke’s second at the par-five 7th, sliced into the dunes on the right. He allows himself a wry smile, then goes off in hope of finding a kind lie.
8.05am BST
Here’s Shane Lowry, and he gets the home-hero treatment. He whips an iron down the middle of 1. He’ll be going round with 2013 champion Phil Mickelson and Branden Grace, who shot that epochal 62 at Birkdale a couple of years ago. Meanwhile the amateur James Sugrue rattles in a straight 30-footer on 6 to make second place all his own ... ah scrub that, because 24-year-old Frenchman Romain Langasque, playing in only his second Open, has birdied 2 and 3. There are plenty of chances for birdies over the opening stretch.
-3: Clarke (6)
-2: Sugrue -a- (6), Langasque (3)
7.53am BST
Darren Clarke is making himself at home here. Well, to be fair, Darren Clarke is at home. The Royal Portrush GC member takes advantage of the short par-four 5th to card his third birdie of the day. This is quite something from the 2011 champ, who at 50 would become the oldest major champion in golfing history were he to continue in this manner for the next four days. The estate of Julius Boros (1968 PGA, 48 years) watches on with interest.
-3: Clarke (5)
-1: Sugrue -a- (5), Hoffman (5), Grillo (4), Lombard (2)
7.48am BST
Eddie Pepperell, who finished sixth last year after shooting a final-round 67 with a sore licensed-premises head, is greeted heartily by the Ulster crowd. He splits the fairway. No such luck for Bubba Watson, whose record at the Open is the inverse of his brilliance. He whistles an iron into the thick stuff down the left. But up on the green, there’s hope, because Fitzpatrick, who was forced to take his medicine from the rough and hack out, gets up and down from 100 yards for a scrambled par. Harrington walks off happy with his par, too, having sunk his approach into thick oomska to the left of the green. A fine chip whipped through the lush rough to four feet saves the day.
7.40am BST
The rain has started to come down. It’s already hammering away in Andy Sullivan’s heart, as his nightmare start continues apace. A bogey at the par-five 2nd, the head scrambled, and he’s +3 already. Meanwhile a display of local knowledge at 4 from Darren Clarke, who uses a hillock to the right of the green to send his ball sharp left, towards a pin tucked away behind a bank. He can’t make the mid-range birdie putt he leaves himself, but had he hit his approach another few feet up the hillock, he’d have set himself up with a proper birdie chance. A lot of players will be fast-forwarding through Clarke’s round on the Sky planner this evening, taking copious notes.
7.35am BST
Here comes another Irish hero. Padraig Harrington, the 2007 and 2008 Champion Golfer, takes to the tee. Looking as intense as ever, he skelps an iron down the middle of the fairway. Meanwhile Matthew Fitzpatrick - who tied for 44th to win the silver medal for low amateur in 2013, a career-high finish he matched as a pro four years later - furrows his brow as he sends a hybrid into the thick stuff down the left.
7.27am BST
Emiliano Grillo’s Open record isn’t much to write home about. A tie for 12th at Troon, but missed cuts at Birkdale and Carnoustie. But the Argentinian postal service might have some work to do this weekend if the 26-year-old’s antics down the par-five 2nd are anything to go by. A lovely second fired into the green to 20 feet, an eagle putt nearly dropping. He joins Clarke and Sugrue in the red at -1.
7.21am BST
In goes the birdie putt, and the early Open leaderboard has a breakfast flavour so Irish it could be served with a soda farl. Meanwhile that wild opening tee shot has cost Andy Sullivan at 1. The first dropped shots of the 148th Open: a double bogey. Of the nine players to have completed a hole so far, he’s the only one over par. He’s +2.
-2: Clarke (3)
-1: Sugrue -a- (1)
7.15am BST
Clarke sends his ball - a Titleist with a shamrock Sharpied onto it - to a couple of feet at the 177-yard par-three 3rd. Nearly a sensational hole-in-one, and he deserves another smoke. He turns his back to the wind, lights it, and then spins to face the camera with a smile nearly as wide as the one he flashed at Sandwich all those years ago. He’s enjoying this, taking advantage of the mild early weather. They were expecting rain, but it hasn’t arrived yet. It’s coming later this morning, though, and the wind’s likely to pick up a little too. Sunny spells in the afternoon. Changeable, in other words. Hey, this is the Open, all part of the charm.
7.09am BST
Clarke settles for par on 2, though he very nearly snaked in a birdie putt from the fringe at the back. He looks in the mood to cash in years of experience round here for tangible reward. He remains at -1. But he’s joined in the early lead by James Sugrue, the 22-year-old Amateur Champion playing the par-five in textbook fashion, two long and straight shots to find the green, a couple of calm putts to make his birdie. And so the Open, for what it’s worth at this infant stage, is now led by a former champion and an amateur.
-1: Clarke (2), Sugrue -a- (2)
E: Hoffman (2), Grillo (1), Kang (1), Thurloway -a- (1)
7.02am BST
Clarke’s drive at the par-five 2nd dribbles into a bunker down the left, and he won’t be able to go for the green with his second. After splashing back out onto the fairway, he takes a pensive draw from a delicious morning cigarette. But his stress levels will be nothing on poor Andy Sullivan: the 33-year-old from Nuneaton, who tied for 12th at Troon three years ago, hooks his opening drive out of bounds down the left. A horror start. He’s the first to do so, but almost certainly won’t be the last, as there’s OB running down both sides of 1. If you’re feeling tight, it’s tight.
6.53am BST
The dream start! Hoffman and Sugrue have good looks at birdie from 30 feet or so, but both efforts stop just short of the hole. An opening par at the Open never to be sniffed at. But the Royal Portrush CG member Clarke, having sent his second pin high to 15 feet, guides a lovely right-to-left slider into the cup! Local knowledge could be priceless this week. The first birdie of the 148th Open Championship goes to the home hero. Darren Clarke leads the Open ... again!
-1: Clarke (1)
E: Sugrue -a- (1), Hoffman (1)
6.45am BST
“This is game number one. On the tee from Northern Ireland, Darren Clarke.” Having received a spine-tingling ovation from the early-morning gallery - shades of the Ryder Cup at K-Club in 2006 - the 2011 champion finds the fairway with the first Open shot in Northern Ireland for 68 years. Just. “Left! Left!” he orders his ball, as it toys with the semi-rough down the right. It obeys. The Cork amateur James Sugrue and Charley Hoffman follow him down. Relieved - because he’ll have thought about that tee shot for quite a while - Clarke stops to enjoy a bit of on-air patter with Sky pundit Paul McGinley, reminding him that he’d beaten him at Portrush in the final of a tournament back in the day. After all the waiting, we’re under way!
6.22pm BST
Bout ye ... and welcome to our coverage of the 148th Open Championship. To date, 96 Opens have been staged in Scotland; 50 have been held in England. But only one of the 147 previous tournaments has taken place in Northern Ireland, here at Royal Portrush way back in 1951. Well, it’s back, baby! It’s been a while, but it’s back.
And what a venue! Carnoustie might have the reputation as the toughest course on the Open rota, St Andrews the one most steeped in history. But Portrush - set among rolling dunes hugging the gorgeous Antrim coast, offering views of the Giant’s Causeway, hilly Inishowen, peaty Islay, all that - is perhaps the prettiest.
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