Scheffler and Lowry ride out storm while Morikawa gets bogged down

The Guardian

5 days ago

It was grin-and-bear-it weather during the first morning of the Open, the sort that makes you question why you ever thought a British seaside holiday was a good idea to begin with. The first shower blew in right around the time Scottie Scheffler got to the 1st tee. He had the air of a stubborn parent who had made the mistake of hauling their kids out in the heedless belief that it was going to clear up any minute, and was now determinedly leading them into the local folk museum that had been recommended by the holiday home owners. Scheffler gritted his teeth and got on with it, pretending he was enjoying himself.
'Was there a shot that stood out today for you, that you were really pleased with?' Scheffler was asked after his round. 'No,' he said.
Scheffler's round was all ups and downs. He made birdies at the 3rd, where he holed an 18ft putt, and the 7th and 10th, but made bogeys at 9th and 11th when both his tee shots blew wide right into the rough. That put him one-under par by the time the weather finally changed, and he was able to pick up a couple more shots with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th on his way back in. He finished with a 68, which was a hell of a round in the conditions. It left him a shot off the clubhouse lead, an auspicious position for him, and an ominous one for everyone else. For a man who says he doesn't much care about winning, he is mighty good at it.
Scheffler just doesn't miss. 'Even when you look at him and it looks like he's hitting a bad shot, it doesn't go in a bad spot,' said his playing partner Shane Lowry.
The two of them were playing with Collin Morikawa. They made for an entertaining threesome, with six major championships between them. Lowry, born and raised in County Offaly, is the local favourite, and the sort of lunatic who seems to enjoy playing in these conditions. It's hard to be sure, because he only ever seems to be scowling when he is out there. He has the rictus grimace of a farmer ploughing the lower 40 in a squall. He won the Open here in 2019 by scoring 72 in weather so bad that the tee times were brought forward. Lowry, last man out, ended up winning his one major in some of the worst conditions in the modern history of the championship.
Almost everyone else was playing a long iron off the 1st tee, Lowry was one of the few to hit a driver, which he walloped, low, sure, and straight up the fairway. Gosh but he knows how to play in the wind and rain, even after all the years of warm-weather living in Florida. He was two-under through the first six holes, with birdies at the long par-five and the short par-three. He would have been better yet if he had only found his putting touch, but the ball always seemed to sit up inches from the cup. Soon enough he was striding around the greens like a bear just out of hibernation, swatting at the ball like he was trying to bat a passing salmon with his paw.
A couple of three-putts when the weather was at its worst meant Lowry finished one under par, sealed with a two-putt from 60ft on the 18th, where his final 5ft par putt was cheered in by a packed grandstand of home fans.
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Which made Morikawa the odd one out. A lot has been made of Scheffler's curious remarks in his press conference earlier this week, when he got himself in a tangle trying to describe what motivates him. To be honest, Scheffler is the straight-down-the middle sort who might think twice about trying to spell existential crisis out loud, let alone talk about how he is suffering one. Morikawa, though, does seem unsure of himself these days. It is coming up on two years since his last victory, at the Zozo Championship in late 2023. He has used four different caddies in the past six months, and most of his headlines have been about his rows with the media.
Out here Morikawa seemed to be on the wrong side of a running argument with his ball. 'Sit, sit, sit,' he pleaded as it scuttled over into the long grass at the back of the 1st green, 'go, go, go,' he urged as it dropped, plopped, and stopped short of the 4th. 'Oh my God!' he bellowed as it flew way wide at the 7th, where it fetched up in a group of spectators gathered on top of one of the high dunes. His day didn't get any better. He made three bogeys on the back nine, and finished four over par and as good as out of it. Like Lowry said: 'Days like today, you can really play your way out of a tournament.'