The Open story of Round One at St Andrews

Published: 16 July 2015 Last updated: 16 July 2015

Perfect conditions greeted the early starters. It was calm, bright and warm first thing this morning, but just three of the first 12 players went on to break 70. One of those was Sweden’s David Lingmerth who was the talk of the town as people made their way through the gates. He was out in 29 – tieing Tony Jacklin’s Old Course record from 1970 – but came back in 40 to finish on three-under.

The morning was all about the varying fortunes of the travelling contingent from across the pond. First was Tom Watson, the 65-year-old playing in his 38th and final Open. It was a good start for the five-time champion as he made his way to two-under through 10 before double bogeys at 13, 16 and 17 curtailed his progress and made it likely that his emotional Swilcan farewell will come rather too soon.

One player who won’t want a picture of that famous Burn is Tiger Woods. The 14-time major champion found it with his second shot at the opening hole and there were further wedge problems to come with a chunk on the 12th. By that time he was five-over par before his single birdie at the 14^th saw him card for a 76 alongside Watson.

Doing considerably better are playing partners Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. The emotions of the pair could not have been more different at Chambers Bay last month but there was no awkwardness as they strode off down the first, chatting and waving to spectators. Spieth came from behind in dramatic fashion to lift the US Open trophy and will need to do the same again here. Five birdies and an eagle saw Johnson post a seven-under 65, with the two-time major champion lurking ominously again, two shots behind. Open debutant Robert Streb and Jason Day are amongst those sandwiched between them.

The South Africans are going well in the form of Goosen, Schwartzel and Oosthuizen. All have impressive records at the home of golf and carded rounds of 66, 67 and 67 respectively. As for European charge, that is led by home favourite Paul Lawrie after a 66, with Englishmen Owen, Donald and Howell two shots adrift of him. It was a great day for the amateurs too. American Jordan Niebrugge’s 67 is the best round by a rookie in Open Championships at St Andrews but he’ll have to continue strongly to take home the Silver Medal come Sunday. Romain Langasque (69), Paul Dunne (69), Oliver Schneiderjans (70) and Paul Kinnear (70) form the chasing pack.

The temperature dropped with hands in pockets and waterproofs the order of the afternoon. It didn’t impact the scoring though with plenty of the later starters – including Zach Johnson, Marc Warren, Danny Willett, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood – getting off to strong starts.

What they said…

Paul Dunne (AM, Ire, 69): ‘I had a few days’ practice but was still really nervous on the first so I’m lucky it is so wide! I settled down after that and it’s nice to get off to a good start. Conditions were perfect, 68 was in my mind but I’m happy with 69.’

David Lingmerth (Swe, 69): ‘I had a great front nine, gave myself opportunities and took them. The back nine into the wind was tougher, I caught some bad breaks and struggled to make the putts.’

Robert Streb (USA, 66): ‘It was really cool as the weather was not too bad. I didn’t realise you couldn’t see where so many shots landed but it’s been great. I don’t know a whole lot about golfing here but I’ve just got to be patient and stay out of those bunkers.’

Jordan Niebrugge (AM, USA, 67): ‘It’s a great experience. I got off to a fast start then stuck in there coming in. You can feel the history here, going over the bridge at 18, it’s a great opportunity for me.’

Retief Goosen (RSA, 66): ‘It’s great to be healthy. The back surgery was a success and I’m feeling really good. I hit the ball horribly on the range this morning but managed to find the magic on the course.’

Luke Donald (Eng, 68): ‘It’s been a while since I’ve had the early-late draw which looks to be better so it’s nice to take advantage. I feel like I’m very close [to my best]. I’ve been tied seventh in my last two events, so I’m much more consistent and finding the 60s a lot more now. Good things are coming.’

Charl Schwartzel (RSA, 67): ‘You’re not going to win it on day one but we’ve put ourselves in a good position. There were some positive signs at the US Open, I found a few basic things and there are some good feelings again.’

Jordan Spieth (USA, 67): ‘I’m very pleased with the start. I saw a 65 in our group, and if DJ keeps driving it the way he is, then I’m going to have to play my best golf to have a chance. It’s hard to argue with somebody who’s splitting bunkers at about 380 yards and just two-putting for birdie on five or six of the holes when there’s only two par-5s. I don’t have that in the bag, so I’ve got to make up for it with ball-striking. There was no chat about the U.S. Open at all, other than talking about the differences in the course or here and there. But I enjoy playing with Dustin. I’ve played a lot of golf with him. You know, it was unfortunate – it was an unfortunate ending to the Open in general, and today we just got off to a normal round of golf like always, and we were able to actually feed off each other and enjoy the day.’

Dustin Johnson (USA, 65): ‘I couldn’t ask for more, played really well. I drove it great all day and if I do that I’m going to have a lot of looks at birdie. I had to make two good saves on 16 and 17 but other than that it was a fairly stress-free day. We all know weather is coming tomorrow so it was really important to get off to a solid start because birdies are going to be tough to make tomorrow.’

Paul Lawrie (Sco, 66): ‘I played much better last week at the Scottish Open. I hit it awesome yesterday in the four-hole challenge playing with Arnold Palmer. So I’m kind of steadily been feeling it’s been getting a wee bit better for quite a while. That was more my vibe. It’s always really cool to play golf in Scotland in front of the best fans in the world.’

Jason Day (Aus, 66): ‘Everything’s great, I’m not worried about falling over on my face any more! Vertigo can come back whenever it wants but today was a great day. Majors are a matter of fighting and how much you want it, I want a major really bad. Hopefully if I win one the floodgates will open.’

Tiger Woods (USA, 76): ‘I’ve got to just fight, fight through it. I know that today is a very benign day. Guys are going to go low. Guys have been shooting good numbers. Unfortunately I did not do that. Hopefully the conditions will be tough tomorrow and I can put together a good round and we’ll move up the board progressively. I’m so far back and the leaderboard is so bunched that in order for me to get in there by Sunday, I’m going to have to have the conditions tough and then obviously put together some really solid rounds, something like what J.D. [John Daly] did back in ’95. If you shoot some good, solid rounds in tough conditions like that, players can move up the board, and hopefully I’m one of them.

Paul Kinnear (AM Eng, 70): ‘Everything was coming off, hitting the shots and holing the putts. I was excited about the situation I was in and looking forward to each shot. I was in a bit of a rut, had a couple of really poor rounds. My Mum said I should think about getting another job but I told here where to go!’

Photos: Getty Images

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