PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — A brief look at the first round of the British Open at Royal Portrush (all times EDT):
AT THE TOP: Matt Fitzpatrick, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Li Haotong were tied at 4-under 67.
LURKING: Scottie Scheffler was among those one shot behind.
HOME HERO: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland made a late birdie for a 70 and was three shots behind. The last time he played the British Open at Royal Portrush, he made an 8 on the first hole, shot 79 and wound up missing the cut.
LONG DAY: Because of wind and rain, and a few lost balls in the high grass, three reachable par 5s and a reachable par 4, rounds took nearly six hours to complete. That last group finished at shortly after 10 p.m. local time.
SENIOR CITIZENS: Lee Westwood (69), Phil Mickelson (70) and Justin Leonard (70) are all over age 50 and broke par in the opening round.
FADING: Bryson DeChambeau, who missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month, shot 78.
SHOT OF THE DAY: Matt Fitzpatrick holed a chip from well below the par-3 16th green for birdie.
KEY STATISTIC: This is the largest tie for the lead after 18 holes in the British Open since there was a six-way tie in 1938 at Royal St. George’s.
NOTEWORTHY: Scottie Scheffler hit only three fairways and shot 68.
QUOTEWORTHY: “I didn’t feel like I was walking into the unknown this time around, where last time I hadn’t experienced that before. I hadn’t played an Open at home.” — Rory McIlroy.
TELEVISION: Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. (Peacock), 4 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (USA Network).
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