Key events

Tommy Fleetwood, the local hero carrying the hopes and dreams of the gallery on his shoulders, suddenly wears his load a bit more lightly. He steers his tee shot at the new par-three 15th to 13 feet, and tickles in the left-to-right curler. The birdie brings him back to level par, and the smile is as wide as the roar is loud.

The minor miracle doesn’t happen for Alex Smalley. His bogey putt rolls past the right of the cup, and that’s a double to finish. Instead of sole ownership of the lead, he’s now back in the peloton. But this year’s PGA Championship runner-up from Greensboro, NC would have taken his 67 at the start of the day. He’s -3.

Thanks Matt … and hats off to Alex Smalley, who having hoicked his tee shot at 18 out of bounds, stripes his reload and then cracks the next shot from 211 yards to 12 feet. If he gets out of Dodge with a bogey, he’ll be whistling and heel-clicking all the way to the Art Deco clubhouse.

Time to hand back to Scott Murray. The leaderboard currently looks like this, but not for long, I suspect. Smalley going down, Scottie going up? Over to you, Scott!

-5: Smalley (17)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Scheffler (15), N. Taylor (13), Gerard (13)

It’s all very chaotic on 18. TV are playing slo-mo footage of what happened to Smalley’s first tee shot, and he and his caddie even peer across at where it went before he hits his fourth shot from the fairway.

Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

Ignore my last entry! The scoring on the leaderboard was errant and Smalley needed to take three off the tee. He’s therefore in even worse trouble. He needs to get up and down from 211 yards to make bogey.

There’s been trouble for Alex Smalley on 18. His tee shot flirted with out of bounds, but he was able to hack the ball onto the fairway. But he’s fighting for par and the solo lead.

The new par-3 15th hole will be the subject of plenty of debate this week. But, aside from how it plays, it features two very modern Open structures. Behind the tee, is a viewing platforms what allows fans to stand with a fine view of the action (and is easy enough to get on and off). Meanwhile, behind the green, there is a three-tier hospitality unit. Not quite so easy to get in and out of …

Bryson DeChambeau makes a mess of the par-5 14th. His new, straighter driver (see 13:52) missed the fairway. He hacked out, found the green in three blows, and then needed three putts to find the bottom of the flag. He slips back to -2.

Tommy Fleetwood, in the next group, finds the green in three but he’s not in birdie territory and still +1.

China’s Haotong Li has made a great start with birdies at 2 and 3. He made his Open debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017, closing the week with a 63 for T3. He also played in the final round with Scheffler last year when T4. He was even a brief contender at Augusta National this April (when T7 after 54 holes). He’s wild but well capable of very fine golf.

Alex Smalley tidies up a par-5 at 17 and still leads on -5.

Robert MacIntyre holed 126.7 feet of putts today which is currently the leading total for finishers. Matthew Southgate ranks second with 116.6 feet. Both of them went under-par, of course, unlike Gary Woodland who had to hole 114.8 feet to shoot 78 which currently has him bottom of the leaderboard. Ouch.

Jon Rahm has been arrow straight from tee to green today. He’s -2 through 13 holes and he has found all 13 greens in regulation. He hasn’t broken 70 on an Open Thursday since 2019 but is on track to end that run.

Alex Smalley’s 249-yard approach to the par-5 17th is wonky. He goes left and it’s unclear if he has found long grass or a bunker.

The weather forecast, by the way, is good and indicates that the afternoon starters are not going to be inconvenienced by anything other than a breeze.

TV’s Tim Barter reveals that Bryson DeChambeau put a new driver in play this week. It needed four tweaks before he was happy with it. He kept wanting it to go straighter. They achieved this by adding loft.

Justin Rose opened his round with a birdie-3 this morning but that was just about the last of the good news. He’s added six bogeys since and just one more par breaker. He’s +5 through 14 holes and his T4 on debut as a 16-year-old in 1998 must seem a long, long time ago. Even for golf’s Peter Pan.

He turns 46 later this month. Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters just after turning 46. That doesn’t really seem to tally.

Justin Rose tees off as he struggles during the opening round. Photograph: Tom Shaw/R&A/Getty Images

There is talk of the wind getting up this afternoon, but there’s little sign of it currently. Home hero Tommy Fleetwod has slipped to +1 and a birdie putt at 13 pulls up just short of the hole. Cries of support from the galleries, but not of the raucous kind. A quite grimace of frustration from Fleetwood. A knee bend from playing partner Jon Rahm after his putt refuses to drop. He’s currently -2.

-5: Smalley (16)
-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), F. Molinari (F), Scheffler (13), DeChambeau (13), N. Taylor (12), Gerard (11)

The 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari has opened with a 67. He’s not getting carried away though. “ I think we got sort of benign conditions this morning, very little wind,” he said. “I’ve been around long enough to know this is a long way to go.”

“Who is Alex Smalley?” you might be wondering. He’s a six-time top-three finisher on the PGA Tour, but he’s yet to win. He led by two after 54 holes in May’s PGA Championship and didn’t give it away in the final round – he was one among many who was bested by Aaron Rai’s brilliance.

Alex Smalley’s day keeps getting better. The 205-yard par-3 15th is supposed to be tough. He knocks his tee shot to 6 feet and drains the putt for a birdie. He’s -5 and clear of the field.

Wasn’t this fiery course supposed to be a tricky test?!?

The American Alex Smalley has joined the leaders on -4. He tied the first round lead in the PGA Championship in May so he knows about pace-setting. He’s got four holes to play and every chance of pinching the solo lead.

His compatriot Ryan Gerard has made the turn in -4 and started the back nine with a par. We’ve got very British links conditions and two Americans loving it.

Dan Brown walks off the fifth green during an iimpressive first round. Photograph: Stuart Kerr/R&A/Getty Images

Robert MacIntyre was asked about getting irritated with a drone on the 1st tee this morning. “Aye,” he said. “I could hear it coming in, and I’m like, please, just keep flipping over the top of me, and it just sat above me. Then they announced me on the tee, and I was like, I’m not hitting until that drone is out of the way. I don’t know who spoke to it, but someone did.”

And he said of the course: “I knew from the practice days this was going to be a real test of my patience, real test of my mind, and I thought I done a great job.”

Conditions here are very dry and very hot. The fire risk is significant. So Dan Brown was asked about his own fondness for smoking. It made for an interesting chat.

Q: Are you allowed to smoke?

A: I’ve been making sure that they’re out.

Q. So you’re still managing to have a smoke?

A: Yeah. Hopefully for the rest of the week. There might be a big dropoff by Sunday if I’m not allowed.

Q. How many have you had today?

A: Sorry, mom. I’m probably on like seven or eight a round, I would say. My dad actually used to smoke, and I always told him when I was a kid to stop smoking and then he did stop and then I ended up starting.

Earlier today the Englishman Matthew Southgate posted a -1 69. It was neat start for the man who was T6 here in 2017 and also a winner on the HotelPlanner Tour this season. He has veteran caddie Billy Foster on the bag this week. Myself and my colleague Dave Tindall bumped into him last night. He’s attended every Open since 1975 as either a fan or caddie (even when he did his cruciate ligament in the 2010s he attended a as a fan).

Bryson DeChambeau narrowly misses making a birdie at 11. He remains -3 and is on track to make his first cut in a major in 2026. Last year he made a dreadful start at Royal Portrush and then raced through the field. Asked if he now understood links golf he was cautious. “Look, it has been fair conditions the past few days,” he said. “I still have to crack the code when it’s raining and windy. But I feel like we’re getting close to some solutions.” He’s using today’s fair conditions well. Will we see any wind, though? Maybe later.

This week would also be the ideal time for Tommy Fleetwood to break a run of 10 major championships since he last recorded a top 10 finish. But a bogey at 10 drags him back to level-par for the round. He has time to post a good number, though, even if he looks a little down. A lot of emotional pressure to ride or deal with this week for the Southport man.

Jon Rahm has hit a shocker off the tee at 10. The hole is a dogleg 374-yard par-4. But take the dog leg on and it’s much shorter. The Spaniard has contrived to neither lay up short on the fairway or get anywhere near the green. He’s also partially behind a huge TV screen. But his thrash from the tall grass and sand finds the putting surface. He’s currently -1.

Bob MacIntyre reveals that “the wee man” is keeping his mind off the golf course when he is quite literally off the course. “Honestly, looking after him with Shannon (his partner), it takes my mind off golf. I won’t think about it when I’m with them.” A new (not very) secret weapon?

The big television screens in the media centre show scenes from the galleries including four men wearing Rory McIlroy face masks. There’s something quite creepy about them. The man himself is out at 3.15pm.

Scotsman Jack McDonald has made a flying start. He qualified at Dundonald Links and is currently taking his PGA coaching exams but this is a second Open start in three years. He cancelled playing a pro-am this weekend after qualifying!

-4: Im (F), Brown (F)
-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (F), Smalley (13), Scheffler (9), N. Taylor (8), McDonald (5)

Alex Smalley watches his drive from the 14th. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

The leaders, Sungjae Im and Dan Brown, are not threatening to break par at 18. In fact the first seven groups have made eight bogeys and just one birdie so the final hole is playing hard. They both complete their 4s and have reset the clubhouse target at -4 66.

Will Alex Fitzpatrick be correct in expecting those scores to be bettered? Time will tell, but lunch is going to taste good for Im and Brown.

Alex Fitzpatrick after opening his account with a -1 69: “I would see someone shooting -5 or -6 today would be my opinion. Just depends if the wind gets up. If the wind doesn’t, then -5 or -6 might be the best score today.”

The Aussie Cameron Smith starts his round with a pulled tee shot into sand. Not a bunker. It’s on one the many sandy footpaths among the dunes. I was walking down there yesterday and they are like the sandy paths you take through to the beach. Smith’s last four Open scores read: 80-74-72-78.

Playing partner Keith Michell follows him into the fine sand. In contrast, Amateur champion Stuart Grehan thrashes a drive down the fairway and it bounds towards the hole, finally settling in the first cut.

Dan Brown has followed Sungjae Im in for birdie at 17. He joins the Korean on -4 for the round. It’s a revival of Royal Troon two years ago because they both finished top 10 that week – and, as mentioned earlier, Brown set the pace with a solo first round lead.

Sungjae Im has never gone sub-70 in an Open round before the weekend. That’s set to change today on his sixth start. He’s -4 through 17 and one hole from setting a new clubhouse target. The Korean has an Open best finish of T7 at Royal Troon in 2024.

Scottie Scheffler on 8 – he has 20 feet for birdie at the par-4. It’s a good putt, but always low of the hole. A safe par and his solid start to the defence of the Claret Jug continues.

Then Robert MacIntyre completes par at 18 and a round of -3 67 to join Thomas Detry with the clubhouse lead.

Robert Macintyre plays to the 18th Green in front of the clubhouse. Photograph: Greig Cowie/Shutterstock

It’s not just the fairways that are bone hard with very little resistance. The rough is very dry, too, and Bryson DeChambeau finds it from the tee on 8, but the ball scuttles through the long grass and emerges on shorter grass.

The par-3 7th trips up Scottie Scheffler when he misses the green so he falls back into the big group sharing the lead on -3.

Clubhouse leader Thomas Detry on conditions this morning. “It’s really going a long way. Have to be very defensive on some of the downhill holes. If you hit a 4-iron a little bit strong and takes a firm bounce, it can roll 300 yards. The bunkers are always in play. Those are the little things to be sort of aware of. Got to try to keep it on the right side of the hole.”

Paul McGinley irritates a few TV viewers on TV commentary. I’m a big fan because I love how he lets us in on what he thinks are secrets – but which aren’t secrets at all. It doesn’t, for example, seem to have dawned on him that we all know about stats in golf. I imagine if you told him that you needed to get up early he’d be thrilled to let you know that he’d discovered the alarm clock. “It’s great. You set it for the time you want to wake up. Brilliant!”

Royal Birkdale GC member Matthew Baldwin hit the opening blow of today’s first round. “An incredible feeling,” he said. “It was terrifying. It was overwhelming. But it’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.” He missed the England World Cup match last night because he set the alarm clock for 3.30 am, but woke at midnight when his wife told him the bad news.

Robert MacIntyre makes par at 17. A messy one after finding sand neat the green, but no harm done.

Tommy Fleetwood is under-par! It’s taken a while but a 12-foot left-to-right birdie putt drops at the short par-4 5th. The galleries are delighted. “Oooohh, they want it so bad for him,” says TV’s Nick Dougherty.

A house near that green has built a platform to view the golf at the bottom of the garden. It’s wonderfully situated, as the property experts would put it. Alas, the R&A have placed a big TV screen/scoreboard between the platform and the green. Cunning? Or cruel?

Robert MacIntyre’s approach to the par-5 17th has failed to find the green – it’s in sand or maybe in high grass among gthe dunes.

And Scottie Scheffler is the new solo leader: birdie at 6. He’s making a great start and the flat stick is on fire.

Tommy Fleetwood plays out of the sand on the 4th. Photograph: Jon Super/AP

Robert MacIntyre has made hard work of 16 after finding the fairway. The Scot’s approach found the green, but left him 60 feet for birdie and he now has 7 feet for par having bolted the the putt. A momentum maintainer if he drains it, a blow if he misses. But in it goes! The par-5 17th to come and hopes of setting a new clubhouse target.

Scottie Scheffler has joined the leaders on -3. A chip and a putt at the short par-4 5th and he’s resembling the golfer who won last year’s Open – and not the one who missed the cut last week at the Renaissance Club.

Canada’s Nick Taylor has made a fast start with a trio of birdies. The latest scores at the top of the leaderboard:

-3: Detry (F), MacIntyre (15), Smalley (8), N. Taylor (3)
-2: Im (13), Brown (13), Hovland (6), Scheffler (4), DeChambeau (4), Gerard (3)

The 2001 Open champion David Duval is level-par through 13 holes today. It’s a terrific start for anyone, but particularly for a man whose last three Open first round scores read 80-91-82.

Robert MacIntyre is at the new par-3 15th hole. His tee shot misses the green but pulls up short of bunker. It’s a hood job that he’s a leftie because he’d be in trouble as a right hander. He makes the most of the luck with a fine chip close that almost certainly guarantee a par.

We have a decent clubhouse target set as the Belgian Thomas Detry cards a -3 67. The Scot Robert MacIntyre makes his birdie at 14 to join him on that mark. Bryson DeChambeau, back at 4, cannot join them but he’s made a bright start and is -2.

Robert MacIntyre’s approach to the 614 yard par-5 14th has found a greenside bunker. The Scott called it, roo. He seemed to like the shot when he struck it, but the land around the sand trap was always sucking the ball into its depths. And up-and-down for birdie though. It’s still a good day for the new dad.

Dan Brown has the code to an Open Thursday. It’s his third Open start, he’s -3 through 12 holes and reviving memories of his 65 to grab the first round lead in 2024 at Royal Troon. Moreover, the Englishman has made four birdies in his last five holes.

Scottie Scheffler makes an 8 foot birdie putt at 3. He’s now -2 for the round and making a good start, especially after his missed cut in last week’s Scottish Open. A nod of the head from the World No. 1.

Scottie Scheffler gets straight to it. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

A nice start for neat and tidy Russell Henley. Three pars and a birdie. For all his recent good form in the last nine majors (five top 10s) he’s usually made slow starts and has been top 10 after 18 holes just once – it was the 2024 Open though.

An excellent par putt from Robert MacIntyre at 13 keeps him on -2. He has an excellent record on fescue grass greens and that’s what he faced with this week. The Scot is also a two-time winner on the linksland.

Thanks Scott. A glorious day here at Royal Birkdale. The course is looking like Opens of old and the field is enjoying itself with wind not a factor.

… and with that, I’ll hand you over to Matt Cooper. See you again later!

Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm all leave birdie putts just shy of the hole. A promising if slightly frustrating start from the stellar trio. But no such issue for Bryson DeChambeau, who follows up his opening birdie with another at 2. His wedge in from close range wasn’t particularly good, but he makes up for it with a 17-foot putt. His playing partner Scottie Scheffler opens his 2026 account with a birdie putt from similar distance. Bryson is -2, Scottie -1.

Tommy Fleetwood gets stuck in. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau take turn to throw darts at the flag on 1. Opening birdies. Just a par for Scottie. Meanwhile over on 12, Robert MacIntyre, who has seen a couple of birdie efforts stay stubbornly holeside, watches one drop from 40 feet. And on 5, Alex Smalley rolls in a 15-footer for his third birdie in four holes! This is hotting up nicely!

-4: Smalley (5)
-3: Detry (15)
-2: MacIntyre (12), A Fitzpatrick (12), Brown (10)