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SPORTS SATURDAY | JULY 19, 2025

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Packed Open leaderboard English, Fitzpatrick in 5-way tie for lead at Royal Portrush

H ARRIS ENGLISH and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick joined Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, China’s Li Haotong and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout with 4 under 67s to share the first-round lead of the Open Championship yesterday at Portrush, Northern Ireland. Scores were bunched together up and down the leaderboard as dealing with the elements became part of the challenge at Royal Portrush Golf Club. Golfers battled wind gusts and, for those playing in the middle of the day, rain that was bothersome at times. “Wind is something that obviously makes links golf challenging, but the rain adds a whole new element to it, especially when you’re hitting the tee balls,” said World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who’s one stroke back after shooting 68. English reached 5-under for the solo lead with his seventh birdie of the round before a bogey on No. 14 and pars the rest of the way. “That’s why I come over and play the Scottish (Open) is to get used to links golf,” English said afterward. “I played really well last week. I didn’t have the Sunday that I wanted, but I felt like my game was sharp and I did what I needed to do to get ready for this week.” Scheffler disrupted by fan’s fart SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER had to contend with a fan’s fart as he was taking a shot during his opening round at this year’s Open Championship. The world No.1 is going in search of his first-ever Open title, having won three major titles so far in his career. The American, whose philosophical rant about the value of success went viral earlier this week, was gearing up for an approach shot on the 17th. It was as Scheffler was following through with his backswing that the wind – a different type from what he’s used to – kicked up. It was picked up by the microphones dotted around the Royal Portrush course, with the untimely release of gas causing the commentators to erupt into laughter. A US broadcaster said: “There was so much to say about that shot, the sound off the clubface… extraordinary.” It was made all the better by Scheffler’s shot almost trickling into the hole, with the ball just edging past the left-hand side of the cup. The co-commentator chimed in with: “Just a little bit of wind from behind just helped it ease down the green.” It came amid a strong day out on the course for Scheffler, who went back to the clubhouse three under par for his afternoon’s work. Conditions had been testing for Scheffler, who had to battle the elements, as well as the odd fart from spectators, too. Reacting to his opening round, Scheffler told Sky Sports : “It was challenging to get the ball on the fairway, especially in the middle of a round when it’s raining sideways basically. “It could’ve been frustrating for us today, going out, playing in rain for the first 13 holes. But it’s one of those things, you know that’s going to happen here, the forecasts are always very uncertain.”– Express Newspapers

before finishing with a 1-under 70. He provided an early thrill by holing a shot from the bunker for a par on the third hole. “I didn’t make a ton of long ones, but I made a lot of short ones and a lot of good up-and downs and lag putting,” Mickelson said. “You find that going back on past experience, you don’t have to press it. You don’t have to force it.” Olesen, who turned pro last year and has two prior starts in PGA Tour events, used an eagle on the par-5 12th hole to move into the lead. His second bogey of the round on the final hole cost him the midday solo lead. Li had a bogey-free round with a pair of birdies on each side. “I’ve been playing quite solid the whole year so far until the last couple weeks, so hopefully keep the momentum and have some good results come in,” Li said. Bezuidenhout has been making adjustments with mechanics, and some of those are working out so far this week. “I’ve been going through some swing changes and stuff,” he said. “It’s nice to see that paying off.” US Open champion JJ Spaun, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay and Australian Jason Day shot 2-over 73. Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa struggled to rounds of 4-over 75, and Bryson DeChambeau shot a 7-over 78 – Field Level Media Fowler tied for sixth the last time The Open was held at Royal Portrush, carding a 66 on Saturday before struggling to a final-round 74. Still, it’s a course he feels very comfortable on – something he plans to take advantage of over the next three days. “It’s a tricky golf course, depending on where the wind’s at and what kind of weather we have,” he said. “You have to think your way around it and hit – execute still but also know when you can maybe play on the aggressive side or when you need to kind of play conservative or just stay smart and take what the course gives you. “Definitely nice to get off to a solid start because you can take yourself out of the tournament pretty quickly Thursday with a poor round.” – Field Level Media “I knew what to expect. So I think just having that experience of six years ago was definitely helpful.” Teeing off in light afternoon breezes alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood and American Justin Thomas, the earlier starters felt like a warm-up act ahead of the appearance of the player born in Holywood, 60 miles south of Portrush. Huge crowds hugged the

Thailand’s Sadom

Kaewkanjana and Englishmen Matthew Jordan and Tyrrell Hatton matched Scheffler with 68s. There are 10 golfers at 2 under 69, including Danish twin brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, Lee Westwood of England, 2023 Open champ Brian Harman, R i c k i e F ow l e r a n d England’s J u s t i n Rose. Lucas Glover, aided by an eagle on the second hole, reached 4-under through seven holes before a couple of bogeys on the back nine left him at 2 under as well. Phil Mickelson, the tournament’s 2013 champion, stood at 2-under at the round’s midway mark

Li Haotong (left) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. – AFPPIC/REUTERSPIC

Fowler in contention and comfortable RICKIE FOWLER took early advantage of his spot in the final major of the year by carding a 2-under 69 after the first round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush yesterday.

Memorial. He then opted not to come over early for the Scottish Open, deciding instead to play in the John Deere Classic, where he tied for 18th. Once a regular around the first page of major leaderboards, just being in attendance is no longer a given for the world’s 110th-ranked player. Fowler did not earn a spot at the Masters or US Open this year and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. However, he has enjoyed some of his best major success at The Open. Among Fowler’s 13 previous starts was a tie for second at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and a tie for fifth at Royal St. George’s in 2011. “I love playing over here. It’s a style of golf I love to play,” he said. “I know I can compete in any style of golf, but especially this.” was a good effort,” McIlroy said. He hit only two fairways and was 154th out of the 156 starters for driving accuracy but conjured five birdies and avoided any of the calamities lurking on an unforgiving course. “I felt like I dealt with it really well today,” said McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam by

Fowler offset three bogeys with five birdies, including going 2-under over his final four holes to sit in a tie for 10th place after 18 holes during a rainy and extremely slow round. “I think just not trying to get too cute or try and do too much, play a little bit conservative,” Fowler said when asked how he deals with different conditions throughout a round at The Open. “Bogeys are OK at times. You can get yourself into trouble pretty quickly out there if you maybe try and do too much.” Fowler, 36, earned his way to Northern Ireland this week with a top-10 finish at the IT was ugly at times and he barely located a fairway but Rory McIlroy’s homecoming party at Royal Portrush this time did not go as flat as a pint of stale Guinness as he scrambled to an opening-round 70 at the British Open yesterday. Six years after putting his opening tee shot out of bounds and racking up a quadruple bogey on his way to dream-wrecking round of 79, five-times major champion McIlroy returned to the Dunluce Links intent on banishing the demons of 2019. There were magical moments for the massed galleries who braved the Atlantic showers to roar on the local hero, but mostly it was a grind for the 36-year-old who arrived this week sporting the Green Jacket from this year’s Masters win. That the Northern Irishman walked off the 18th green on 1-under, only three shots off the lead and very much in the mix for his second Open title, 11 years after his first, was a victory in itself. “It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par

Rory bogeys first hole before fighting back

winning t h e Ma s t e r s this year to snap an 11 year

fairways of the treacherous opening hole and there were sighs of relief and a puffing of cheeks when his tee shot only veered off into the left rough, although opening with a bogey did dampen the mood. – Reuters

major

drought.

“Certainly, I dealt with it better than I did six years ago. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I’m happy with where I am.

Rory McIlroy. – REUTERSPIC