2024-07-18 23:35:02
The top two finishers at the 2024 U.S. Open were among the worst performers in the first round of the 2024 Open Championship on Thursday. Fresh off an all-time battle at Pinehurst No. 2, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy opened the final major of the season with respective rounds of 5-over 76 and 7-over 78. Their totals came in above the course average of 74.84 as difficult scoring conditions engulfed Royal Troon.
DeChambeau entered The Open as one of two players (Xander Schauffele) to finish inside the top 10 across the first three major championships of the season. While The Open has always posed a problem for DeChambeau with the big hitter having finished inside the top 10 just once across six prior efforts, the American came to Scotland with a renewed sense of confidence given his performances thus far this season.
That confidence took a hit immediately as DeChambeau dropped a shot on his opening hole after initially splitting the fairway and finding the green with his first two strikes of the championship. His ball-striking only went downhill from there as he failed to hit a green in regulation across his next five holes.
During this stretch, the squares piled up on DeChambeau’s scorecard with bogeys on Nos. 3-4 and a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 6th. Just six holes into his championship, DeChambeau found himself at 5 over and ahead of just a few names that mainly consisted of old-time past champions. Another bogey a couple holes later made it so the 30-year-old turned in 42 and put a sub-80 round in play.
He settled into the middle portion of his round, however, rattling off six straight pars at one stage. Another square came on No. 15 before DeChambeau’s lone par breaker arrived on his scorecard thanks to a lengthy eagle on the par-5 16th. All in all, it added up to a 76 for the U.S. Open champion as his quest to figure out the Open riddle continues.
“It’s a completely different test. I didn’t get any practice in [this wind direction], and I didn’t really play much in the rain,” DeChambeau said. “Yeah, it’s a difficult test out here, something I’m not familiar with. I never grew up playing it, and not to say that that’s the reason; I finished eighth at St Andrews. I can do it when it’s warm and not windy.”
McIlroy’s mundane round was more of a slow bleed and a consequence of two holes in particular. After making bogey on No. 1, Rory maneuvered his approach into the par-4 3rd to access a somewhat tucked pin on the left side of the green to set up his first birdie of the round. He remained at even par up until the par-3 8th, a hole commonly known as the Postage Stamp.
The four-time major champion’s tee shot initially found the putting surface but slowly trickled into the greenside bunker right of the green. Leaving his second at his feet, McIlroy’s third found the green about 20 feet away from the pin. A two putt resulted in a double bogey and put the Northern Irishman on his back foot.
Opening his second nine by adding another square on his scorecard, McIlroy decided to push the envelope on the tricky par-4 11th by hitting driver. Losing his tee shot right, McIlroy’s ball found the railway tracks resulting in a reload off the tee. A double bogey was carded, and his name drifted to 5 over, all due to this four-hole stretch.
Tacking on two more bogeys in his next seven holes, including one at the last, McIlroy signed for his 78. It represents the fourth-highest score in his Open career and his third-highest in the opening round — only outdone by 79s carded in 2013 at Muirfield and 2019 at Royal Portrush.
Both DeChambeau and McIlroy will now turn their attentions to Friday afternoon when they will begin their second rounds. It is likely they will find their names just around the cutline as both seek to play their way into the weekend for the fourth time this year at a major championship.
