The Open: Rory McIlroy moving along nicely as Shane Lowry signs off with a 70 at Royal Portrush

Irish Independent

17-07-2025

We will bring you all the action from the course all week as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry lead the Irish challenge.
Key updates
Pivotal point in Rory's week already?
The Open Guinness tracker: Where's the cheapest pint in Portrush this week?
Darren Clarke on shooting a 75: 'Maybe I should have spent more time in the Harbour Bar!'
Round one tee times
2 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
Hold up on hole seven
A long wait as three groups are all on the par five seventh at once. Never does anybody any good, that. And Rory hits it left. It's thick and lying down with some thick stuff folding in around it. Won't be getting up in two but that did him a favour on the second.
Fleetwood and JT are all good so could go for it in two
6 minutes ago
Adam McKendry
The joy of The Open
Sadom Kaewkanjana is 262nd in the world rankings.
Sadom Kaewkanjana has never played at a level higher than the Asian Tour.
Sadom Kaewkanjana has played in just one event since May and missed the cut in it.
Sadom Kaewkanjana is currently one shot off the lead at The Open Championship after parring the last for a three-under-par 68, the same score as the World No.1.
Because golf.
17 minutes ago
Adam McKendry
Keep your Hatton
Tyrrell Hatton, who has finished in the top-10 of a Major twice in the last two years, is threatening again as he has an eagle putt on the par-five seventh to take a share of the lead... no. It stays short but it's a tap-in for birdie and the Englishman makes it another LIV player in the mix as he moves one shot back of the lead trio.
All of a sudden the leaderboard is becoming quite bunched, to the extent that -1 is tied-19th.
18 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
Sad news to report
I regret to inform you that somebody shouted 'GET IN THE HOOOOLE' after Rory hit his putt. A dark day for Irish golf.
19 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
Rory had that, you know
Par at the par three 6th for McIlroy as his birdie putt stops a foot short. Looked like it was going in if it had been hit.
Almost a super two from Fleetwood as his curling putt the length of the green lips out at the back edge after a lovely punched approach.
Thomas shortsided himself off the tee - his chip was as good as was possible up the slope but his 20 footer stops short.
McIlroy: -1
Thomas: E
Fleetwood: +2
28 minutes ago
Adam McKendry
Three-way tie at the top
Just as soon as Aaron Rai moved up to the top, he's back down into fourth once more as he bogeys the par-four ninth, so he drops back to -3 and Olesen, Li and Fitzpatrick are the leaders again.
Harris English, meanwhile, birdies the first, second and fourth to get to -3 thru four. Great start for him, as it is for Maverick McNealy, who has birdied three of his last four holes to reach -3 thru seven.
30 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
ROOOOAARRRYYYY
'It's an unexpected birdie, coming back from a mistake like that.' So says the fan behind me, who should be a commentator, as Rory rails it up the slope and in the middle door.
No such luck for Tommy whose bunker trouble has yielded successive bogeys.
After 5 it's:
McIlroy: -1
Thomas: -1
Fleetwood: +2
34 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
'It's no good there - we've been standing three hours waiting'
You've got to feel for the fans who think they're in perfect place only for a TV camera to get plonked in front of them. To be fair the fan and the camera man in this case have an amicable discussion and the cameraman pops off again before the group takes to the green. A win for humanity.
36 minutes ago
Adam McKendry
Scottie Scheffler following his 68: 'The margins are so small out here'
His round: Felt like I hit the ball nice off the tee and really only had one swing I wasn't too happy with on maybe the 2nd hole but, outside of that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple rounds."
Playing in the rain:"I felt like No.7 is a good example. Without the rain, where the wind direction was for us to start the day would have been a little down off the left and basically you can eliminate that one bunker, that big giant bunker on the right side of the fairway, and all of a sudden it starts raining sideways, the ball doesn't go as far, and now you can still run into that left bunker but you can't carry the right bunker, and instead of hitting driver and 4-iron, right now it's driver and 3-wood. Just little stuff like that makes it really challenging. Then we get to No.12 and I hit what was a really good tee shot there that just happened to kick a little bit right and go into the bunker. The margins out here are just really small. Sometimes the rain can make that pretty challenging."
40 minutes ago
Gareth Hanna
No risk/reward for Rory on 5
Takes the iron off the tee but absolutely minces it. It's nearly on the green. JT in fairway and Fleetwood in the right bunker, from where his attempted escape catches the lip and sticks. Gutting.
It's a poor chip from Rory too - was always short and trickles back down the slope in front of the pin to 20 foot away. No such issue for Justin Thomas, who damn near holes it. Lip out and a tap-in birdie coming up for him to go under par.
46 minutes ago
Adam McKendry
We have a new co-leader
Back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth and Aaron Rai - who, bizarrely, wears two gloves which I just find fascinating - is in a share for the lead before he's even played half of his first round. Could he be on for a low one?
Sadom Kaewkanjana, still the only man to eagle the par-four fifth, is also back up into the mix as he birdies Calamity and is up to -3 with two holes of his round to play.
Adam McKendry
Jon Rahm on an eventful 70: 'I feel confident'
His round:"Played good golf. If anything, I wish I could have played the easier holes, the first five, with the wind today and taken a little more advantage of that. I had a couple good looks. Pars out here are never going to hurt you, and those holes starting on eight thru 12 for the most part, all of them into the wind, are just difficult holes, a difficult stretch of the course where if you can somehow manage to make pars it's great. But overall, yeah, I'm very happy with the round. I'll take the score. I feel confident. Hopefully I can hit a few better shots off the tee. With the rain it's always tough to say, I feel like I was making good swings but water gets between the ball and the club and it can go anywhere. But I'd like those good swings to somehow produce the shot that I like to see. But besides that, a really good day."
On the incident where a fan whistled during his tee shot on the 11th:"If I were to paint a picture, you have the hardest tee shot on the course, raining, into the wind off the left, it's enough. I know they're not doing it on purpose, it just seemed like somebody trying to get a hold of someone for whatever it is. It was bad timing. I think I just used the moment to let out any tension I had in me. To be honest, it probably didn't affect as much as I made it sound like. It was a bad swing as well. Just a difficult hole. I mean, it's frustrating, but it is what it is. It's an everyday thing in golf."
51 minutes ago
No dramas after all
Rory's two putt par is converted and JT gets up and down while Fleetwood finishes out what had seemed an inevitable bogey since his bunker situ.
Today 11:15 AM
Adam McKendry
F***y-n**e watch?
The more benign and dry conditions this afternoon have lent themselves to some better scoring, with Lucas Glover having the dream start by picking up a rare birdie at the par-five first and then backing it up with an eagle at the par-five second to move three-under for his first two holes! Is it too early to start a 59 watch?!
England's Aaron Rai is also up to three-under he's birdied three of his first seven holes and he's bidding to hit the top, too. He'd be a popular winner in Northern Ireland after nearly winning the Irish Open at Galgorm.
Today 11:12 AM
Gareth Hanna
'How many shots penalty to drop it out?'
Fleetwood's ball was in such a bad spot on the pot bunker, his caddie was considering dropping it. But on the confirmation of his suspicions that it was a two shot penalty, Tommy hit it and did well to get it out.
Today 11:09 AM
Adam McKendry
Matthew Fitzpatrick, co-leader after a 67: 'Sometimes you need a bit of luck'
His round: "I just felt like I did everything well. Just drove it well, approach play was good, and chipped and putted well. It was just an all around good day."
His slam-dunk hole-out birdie on 16: "A bit of luck obviously. Sometimes you need that. I thought I could play a bit aggressive after watching Foxy and Hideki leave them a bit short. Obviously it just came out a little bit harder than I anticipated and on the perfect line."
Royal Portrush:"This tournament always has the best fans obviously, even more so probably over here as well. They just understand golf so well, and good shots are rewarded with lots of claps. So that was a good thing. I think this place is fantastic. I've been lucky enough to play multiple Open venues now over the course of my career. There's a couple that haven't been played for a while that I absolutely love as well. So it would be nice to go back to those two. I definitely think this is up there."
Today 11:05 AM
Gareth Hanna
Oh it's thrills you want?
How about this tee shot at the fourth snapped straight left as well? That's both drivers from Rory significantly left of the mark so far. Not a good spot, over there.
Today 11:04 AM
Adam McKendry
You Bez believe it
Strong start to the round for South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout as he rattles off three straight birdies at 5, 6 and 7 to move to three-under-par and one shot off the lead! Could he do something special?
I was chatting to his father yesterday and he was bullish on his son's chances. I'm starting to believe him.
Today 11:02 AM
Gareth Hanna
Boring pars at the third
Pitch. Putt. Putt. Rory, JT, Tommy all stay level. A bit monotony never hurt anyone after those first two.
Today 11:00 AM
Adam McKendry
Shane and Scottie
The marquee morning group are finished and it's a good day for Scottie Scheffler, who almost ties the lead with a long-range putt on the 18th but sees it slide just right of the hole and instead has to settle for a par and a three-under 68, which leaves him one shot off the lead.
And it is also a good day for Shane Lowry, a one-under 70 a solid day's work that has him still very much in contention after three birdies and two bogeys! The '2019 defence' off to a good start.
Not so good for Collin Morikawa, though. Five bogeys, four of which came in his final 10 holes, and just one birdie means it's a +4 start for the 2021 champion.
Today 10:55 AM
Adam McKendry
Holey moley
As Rory McIlroy and co. head for the par-three third, let's check in on which holes are giving the players the most grief and which are providing birdie opportunities.
The toughest holes
1. 11th (+0.47)
2. 4th (+0.36)
3. 9th (+0.35)
4. 18th (+0.30)
5. 1st (+0.28)
The easiest holes
1. 5th (-0.26)
2. 12th (-0.25)
3. 7th (-0.18)
4. 2nd (-0.15)
5. 6th (+0.04)