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SHANE LOWRY’S RESILIENT finish helped him to an opening round of 69 to sit four shots off the Open Championship lead at Royal Birkdale.
The 2019 Claret Jug winner recovered from three successive bogeys from the 13th to 15th holes to grab back-to-back birdies, closing on one-under.
Unheralded American Jackson Suber was a surprise clubhouse leader after a five-under 65.
Lowry began well by sinking a 35-footer for birdie at the third, although he couldn’t get up and down to save par at the sixth.
He began to gain momentum with a short birdie putt at the ninth followed by a 26-footer at the 12th to move two-under.
The 39-year-old stalled by bogeying the next three, including a four-putt at the 14th, where Lowry initially had a monster effort for eagle.
He dug in with a brilliant 166-yard approach setting up birdie at 16 before making another at the par-five 17th.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy’s hopes of ending a 12-year wait to regain the Open title are hanging by a thread after a two-over-par 72.
McIlroy, Lowry, and the later starters endured the worst of the conditions as the wind picked up and furher dried out a firm course after precious little rain in recent weeks.
But the six-time major champion was completely out of sorts in a round that contained six bogeys, including at both par fives.
Starting in a marquee group alongside 2024 winner Xander Schauffele and world number three Matt Fitzpatrick, McIlroy dropped shots at four and seven before earning a birdie after driving the ninth green. He followed with bogeys at 10 and 11.
McIlroy then birdied 13 and 15, but lost costly shots at both par-fives, 14 and 17, to remain three-over playing the last hole, where a precise 200-yard approach enabled him to finish on a high.
McIlroy now faces a battle in Friday’s second round to avoid missing the cut for only the second time in his last 15 majors.
Suber, ranked 115th in the world, had a first ever round at the Open to remember.
After making the turn at level par, he picked up five shots in the next eight holes, topped off by an eagle on the 17th to give him a one-shot lead from England’s Daniel Brown and South Korean Im Sung-jae.
The 26-year-old is playing in just his third major and had never experienced European golf until his first practice round on Monday.
“Monday was my first round of links golf, so I’ve played 27 holes before I played the first round today. I’ve never been to Europe,” said Suber.
“Things just really started going after the birdie on 10. I just felt like the momentum was really in my favour.”
Bryson DeChambeau is three under par. With an apparent dollop of sarcasm, the American hit back at Nick Faldo’s claim he had “zero clue of strategy” after posting his first sub-70 major round of the year.
Sir Nick Faldo certainly not holding back ahead of The Open 😳 pic.twitter.com/xkPnyGaJuq
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 14, 2026
DeChambeau refused to speak to the media for the fifth consecutive major round but did answer questions for the R&A’s in-house channel.
In one 18-second response he used the word ‘strategic’ or ‘stategy’ three times, pointedly stressing the emphasis.
“I think you’ve got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course. I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places,” he said.
“Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre also made a strong start with a three-under par round of 67.
World number 15 MacIntyre has never won a major but has finished in the top 10 at the British Open three times in six attempts.
“If I won an Open, won any major, if something happened, I could happily walk away from the game of golf,” said MacIntrye.
“It would be all my goals that I ever dreamed of complete if I did that, but there’s a long way to go.”
World number four Cameron Young is also poised to strike at three under.
Scottie Scheffler made a positive start to his Open title defence, but then lost momentum to sit three shots off the clubhouse lead after his opening round 68.
The American was more at home under glorious sunshine and scorching temperatures in England’s north-west coast than at last week’s fog-disrupted Scottish Open when the world number one saw his record of 78 successive cuts made dating back four years come to an end.
Scheffler said getting some extra rest before a major is “never the worst thing, but I really hate missing cuts”.
He stormed to victory at Royal Portrush last year to end any doubt of his ability to adapt to the links conditions on the other side of the Atlantic.
But Scheffler has endured a frustrating year by his high standards with only one win on the PGA Tour back in January and failing to add to his four majors.
The world number one bounced back with four birdies in five holes between the second and the sixth before a first dropped shot of the tournament at seven took him back to three under.
Scheffler then hit nine straight pars through the eighth to 16th holes, before a bogey on the par-five 17th, closing his round with another par.
Tom McKibbin ended on one-over, Darren Clarke on three-over, amateurs David Howard and Stuart Grehan closed at four- and seven-over respectively, while Pádraig Harrington struggled to a 10-over 80.
- Additional reporting by AFP and Press Association.
Written by The 42 and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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