The Open

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy says he is happy sitting on one under par, three shots off the lead, after the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Robert MacIntyre will go into day two at the Open as the leading Scot in the field despite turning the air blue as he scrambled down the back nine.

After being one off the lead at three under par through eight holes, he slipped back around the turn.

"Wow. Wow," was then his reaction after his birdie putt on 13 stayed above ground before his scorecard holder took a sharp slap after bogey on 14 returned him to level par.

He was still fulminating to his caddie as he barrelled up 15 - punctuating his grievance with all the good swears - then made to snap a club over his knee after spraying his second off to the right and leaving a chip 10 feet short of the hole.

"Just so bad," he groused, far more profanely than the BBC censors would allow.

At this stage, MacIntyre looked like he could well set fire to the entirely of Portrush with his fury, never mind his chances of contending this week.

But, pars at 16, 17 and 18 kept him just four shots back.

"I thought I managed to keep a lid on it fairly well," MacIntyre said, admirably keeping a straight face. "There were a couple of swears out there, but it's difficult.

"The way I was scrambling with the last four holes, I would have have taken that."

Watch the best shots from the first round of the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy birdies the fifth and seventh holes to move to two under par at The Open.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

World number one Scottie Scheffler says some players have shown support for his pre-Open comments questioning why he plays golf.

On Tuesday, before the championship got under way at Royal Portrush, the three-time major winner said professional golf was "not a fulfilling life" and questioned "the point" of pursuing victories with such zeal.

Playing alongside fellow major winners Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele, Scheffler shot a three-under-par 68 in his opening round on Thursday as he seeks a first Claret Jug.

"It's just a matter of perspective, and I've had some players come up to me and say that they feel and think the same things," the American said.

"If anybody has disagreed with me, they haven't said it to my face yet, so I don't know what the reaction would be."

In a meaningful answer, which came at the end of is pre-tournament news conference, Scheffler said he would quit the sport if it started to impact his relationship with his wife, Meredith, and his 14-month old son, Bennett.

He said he should maybe "be a little less honest" in his responses in news conferences, but he tries to be as truthful as possible.

"I think I try to be as honest as I can with you, with the stuff that I'm willing to kind of say," the 29-year-old said.

"At times I feel like maybe I should be a little less honest. Maybe I shouldn't have said the stuff I said because now I'm going to get asked about it more."

He added the winning feeling in golf is not the "be all and end all", and on Thursday he reiterated his motivation to win remains as high as ever despite the comments regarding fulfilment.

Scheffler carded a strong opening round in Northern Ireland and is one shot off clubhouse leaders Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark and China's Haotong Li.

"This week I'm trying to play good enough to win the golf tournament," he said.

"I think I've made that pretty clear over the course of my career.

"I'm just glad to be out playing golf and competing again."

World number one Scottie Scheffler birdies the 16th and 17th holes to help him finish with a first-round 68 at The Open.

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Shane Lowry felt he "managed to handle" himself well during his first round of the 153rd Open Championship at Portrush on Thursday.

The Irishman, who lifted the Claret Jug when the championship was last staged at Portrush in 2019, said he had "mentally fought with this round of golf" for a number of weeks.

Three birdies and two bogeys saw him finish one under in a round played through the worst of Thursday's rain.

"Everything is great, I'm happy," said the world number 18.

"I've fought with this round of golf in my head for a few weeks now. I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"Any time you shoot one-under-par around Portrush in those conditions, I think is decent."

Lowry likened his nerves on the first tee to those experienced at the Ryder Cup.

"The first tee shot wasn't that easy. I wasn't feeling very comfortable there.

"It's going to be all right for the rest of the week. I just wanted to get my tournament under way.

"Obviously I want so much to do well in this tournament. I want so much to give myself a chance on Sunday."

Lowry concluded his round during Rory McIlroy's opening holes but the 38-year-old was still afforded a rousing reception as he finished up with a par.

"I wasn't expecting 18 to be full with Rory out on the course," he added.

"It was pretty cool. The crowd have been amazing all week.

"I won the last time here, and I'm trying to use it to my advantage."

Matt Fitzpatrick chips off the flag to bag himself a brilliant birdie at the 16th hole on day one at the Open.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Darren Clarke has joked that you would not think he was a member at Royal Portrush after an opening round of 75 at the Open.

The 2011 Open winner struggled with one birdie and six bogeys in his opening 16 holes.

However, the 56-year chipped in from the rough on the 17th to collect a shot back and his aim is to make the cut for the weekend.

"Four over par wasn't what I was hoping for," Clarke told BBC Sport NI.

"In my practice I was hitting the ball nicely, putting nicely and doing everything well.

"But that's golf, today it didn't quite happen."

Clarke admits his performance on the front nine was littered with "stupid mistakes" that left him questioning 'what am I doing?'.

"On the front nine I hit shots that wouldn't make you think I was a member here," he added.

"But the chip in on 17 was a huge bonus and it was nice to do something good and positive for the day. I just need to play well tomorrow."

Australian golfer Ryan Peake, who caught up with BBC Sport NI's Matt Gault earlier this week, has been reflecting on his first major appearance at The Open and playing alongside Phil Mickelson.

The 31-year-old carded a six-over-par 77 on his opening round and admitted to being slightly in awe of his six-time major champion playing partner.

"I grabbed his putter off him a few times and had a little feel of it! That's the OG - the one from the Masters," Peake said.

"His caddy was giving out golf balls as he walked off the tee and I yelled, 'What about me?!' He had a laugh and thought I was being sarcastic, but he said was I serious and I said, 'deadly serious' and said could he sign a glove as well!"

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson believes winning the Open Championship in 2013 is the "greatest accomplishment" of his career.

The American lifted the Claret Jug at Muirfield in 2013 and, 12 years later, made a strong start to the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush on Thursday with a one-under-par 70.

Although feeling his group had a "pretty good break" when the heavier rain arrived only towards the end of their opening round, the 55-year-old enjoyed his latest opportunity to transfer his skills to links golf.

"I had to learn a style of golf that I didn't grow up playing," he said.

"It's kind of the greatest source of pride for me as a player to overcome those obstacles. Now I've come to really love it, enjoy it, and I seem to play well in some of the adverse conditions too.

"I think it's a sign of a complete player, to be able to win in all the conditions of the majors that they provide."

While Mickelson said he was "lucky" to chip in from the bunker and save par on the third, he was pleased with his short game throughout his round.

"When you get conditions like this, you start to fall back on realizing that 60, 80 feet in the proper spot is a good spot, and you start to realize that you can make 20 or 30-footers out here. You don't have to hit it [to] six feet to make birdie.

"You can hit it to 20, 30 feet because the greens don't break a lot, you can hit them aggressively.

"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. You find that going back on past experience, you don't have to press it. You don't have to force it."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Tom McKibbin joked that Rory McIlroy has made the opening tee shot at Royal Portush "scary" and it was all he "thought about for the past three days".

Northern Ireland's McKibbin carded a one-over-par 72 as he teed off in the opening group at The Open with Padraig Harrington and Nicolai Hojgaard.

McKibbin said his nerves were not too bad on the first tee but he was thinking of McIlroy's opening effort in 2019, which flew out of bounds.

"I think Rory has made that first shot a lot scarier. That's all I could think about for the past three days," McKibbin said after his first round.

"I wasn't too nervous, I just didn't want to hit that bad a shot and I was very happy to get under way".

The 22-year-old, who comes from the same Holywood Golf Club as five-time major winner McIlroy, added it was "pretty cool" to be out in the opening group of his home Open.

"It's amazing getting clapped onto every tee and green. It's my first experience of that kind.

"They are wanting you to do the best you can and it's great to have that support."

McKibbin had briefly moved into the joint-lead by the turn of his opening round, but a double bogey on the 11th derailed his momentum in what he called "an up and down day".

After an early start time of 06:35 BST, McKibbin said he would rest up for the rest of the day.

He says he plans to follow McIlroy's round when he gets under way at 15:10 BST - but sleep was the first thing on his agenda.

"I got up at 3.30am this morning so I'll probably go and lie in bed for a little bit.

"Hopefully I'll have woken up by the time he tees off."