
Danish qualifier Olesen, world number 354, sets pace at Portrush
The 26-year-old left-handed qualifier eagled the 12th hole and picked up four birdies before a bogey at the last left him joint top of the leaderboard alongside China's Li Haotong and England's Matthew Fitzpatrick.
After early sunshine on the Dunluce Links, heavy rain made life difficult for the players but England's Matthew Jordan returned a three-under-par 68.
Dane Nicolai Hojgaard, who went out in the first group of the day, compiled a solid 69 to finish at two under.
"I had to grind pretty hard to shoot a score today," he said. "I felt like I squeezed the most out of it, and sometimes those days are really nice to have."
Former U.S. collegiate player Olesen, who turned professional last year having made his Open debut at Troon as an amateur, sank a 40-foot birdie on the tough opening hole and reached the turn in 35. He rolled in his eagle at the 12th before a chip-in at the 15th gave him the outright lead.
Veteran American Phil Mickelson, the 2013 Open champion, rolled back the years with a one-under 70, including a spectacular par-save when he holed out from a greenside bunker at the par-three third.
"That bunker shot that buried in the lip, and then to make it, it was obviously a lot of luck. It was crazy. I was just trying to save bogey, and I got lucky," the 55-year-old said.
Former world number one Lee Westwood, 52, also began well with a two-under 69 while Spain's Sergio Garcia was three under after seven holes as the old guard shone.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele began in steady fashion with two birdies and two bogeys in his first 14 holes while playing partners Jon Rahm and U.S. Open champion JJ Spaun were at one under towards the end of their rounds.
World number one Scottie Scheffler was one under and 2019 Portrush champion Shane Lowry was level par after 14 holes.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy is among the late starters as he bids for a second Claret Jug in the company of England's Tommy Fleetwood and American Justin Thomas.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, twice Open champion, had struck the first tee shot of the tournament in cloudy conditions. Brighter weather and light winds were forecast for the later afternoon.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
a few seconds ago
- BBC News
Gossip: Whites confident over youngster Ridgeon
Fulham are confident of keeping hold of midfielder Seth Ridgeon despite Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea showing interest England Under-17 captain. (Standard), externalWant more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip columnFollow the gossip column on BBC Sport


BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Snooker champions meet Great Yarmouth care home residents
Residents at a seaside care home have been treated to a visit from two former snooker world champions. Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty visited Eversley Lodge Nursing Home in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to play snooker and share memories with residents. Their visit came 40 years after Taylor's big win in a memorable black-ball final at the 1985 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield."Here we are still loving every minute of it... It's a great bit of fun," Taylor said. Both players said they were not sure what they were in for when they headed to the home. "We didn't know what we were coming to, really. When we turned up we were so surprised... What a beautiful place," Taylor said. Doherty said: "It's brilliant... We haven't done many exhibitions in care homes before."A lot of people here would have watched snooker over the years and really enjoyed it, so it's great to see them in such a wonderful environment."The 1997 world champion reminisced about the last time he visited Norfolk's coastline. "It's been over 40 years since I was last here playing in the Home Junior International in Hemsby... I've always really enjoyed it here," he said. The care home's manager, Danielle Bullent, said a lot of work went into setting up the home for the exhibition. She said it took staff four hours to get the snooker table ready. Speaking about the anniversary of his championship win, Taylor, famous for his unique "upside-down" glasses, said he was glad people still talked about it. "Forty years on and people still turn their glasses upside down, raise an imaginary cue above their head and wag their finger at me," he said."I hope they keep doing it for many more years to come." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.


BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Legend' Sweeney enters decade of service at Exeter
"I think at one stage we had one radiator in the building that worked," recalls Pierce Sweeney as he enters his tenth season at Exeter Grecians' captain is a rare breed in modern football having spent nearly a decade at one club - a period that has seen incredible change at Exeter a leaky - and cold - wooden building at the side of a bumpy training ground to a modern multi-million pound facility, and two new stands at St James Park, Sweeney has been a constant. The Irishman joined as a fresh-faced 20-year-old defender from Reading in 2016 and has gone on to play 391 games for City, scoring 22 goals, and winning promotion to League One in 2022. "I've reared my family here, I own a house down here. So I don't think I'll ever leave the place unless something really, really attractive comes my way in the latter end of my career, which I highly doubt will happen," Sweeney says in his broad Irish accent."This is home for me now, and I kind of turned from a young inexperienced boy to an old age pensioner." Sweeney is a man who never takes life too seriously off the field - always ready with a smile and a on the pitch there is a steel and determination to his game that has made him one of the most consistent defenders in League One. He has played under three managers at Exeter - a rare feat for a club that does not change head coach that often. His current boss Gary Caldwell has no doubt how important he is to the team - and the club. "For all we take the micky out of him, myself, the staff, he is a brilliant character. He has been a brilliant servant for this football club," Caldwell says."He is one of the few players I think you can call a legend at the football club for what he's done and the journey, that not just the club, but he has been on since he's been here."So to be able to celebrate that I think is really important." 'We've come on leaps and bounds' That celebration has been going throughout the summer and culminates on Saturday when Sweeney has his testimonial match against Swansea City at St James Park in Exeter's final pre-season game. Sweeney has played alongside the likes of Ollie Watkins, Jay Stansfield and Ethan Ampadu - whose big transfer fees have gone a long way to turning fan-owned Exeter into a financially sustainable club in League One. "The football club's done really well with picking and choosing when they spend money on the facilities," Sweeney - who briefly left Exeter in June 2021 to join a financially troubled Swindon Town before returning less than a month later - tells BBC Radio Devon."I've spoken to a good few players who have come here from different football clubs and even they say the facilities are top for League One level and some in the Championship aren't as good as what we have here."We've come on leaps and bounds, but I think the facilities aside, I think the way the football club is run now is a million miles away from where we used to be, and I think that's spearheaded from the manager."The manager probably gives the board headaches of what he wants every year or every month, but that's only for the benefit of the club."He's an ambitious man and he can see where the football club can get to."There's still more room for improvement. We can always improve and I think it's important that we don't stop." Sweeney's career at Exeter has had its fair share of ups and downs. He has lost three League Two play-off finals at Wembley - defeat by Blackpool in his debut season in 2017, Coventry City a year later, and then Northampton Town in an empty national stadium in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 there have also been highs as well - not least winning automatic promotion in 2022 as well as some memorable runs in both the FA and EFL Cups."It was probably a blessing in disguise that we probably didn't win them," Sweeney says as he looks back on the Wembley defeats. "I think where we were when we got automatic promotion, I think the club was in a far better position than we were for the play-off games."My personal opinion is that we probably wouldn't be coming into our fourth season back then in League One."He adds: "Wembley's an unbelievable place when you win. It's the worst place in the world when you lose. I've been unfortunate to experience that three times now."It wasn't a nice feeling, but I've definitely taken that on board with me ever since and kind of used it as fuel, and hopefully the next time we go to Wembley we can finish the job." Sweeney's toughest personal battle came last season when he missed the second half of the campaign after picking up a calf injury in December and then having surgery to fix a long-standing hip even though he is celebrating his testimonial this season - and has no intention of leaving the club - he appreciates how hard the world of football is."I've been out for the longest period of my career and it's been it's been a tough offseason. I've been on my own doing rehab and tough times mentally, " he says."I want to play as many games as I can and try and earn myself a new contract at the end of the next season."I'm 31 in September, so I'm no spring chicken. I need to get back fully fit and get back into the team, and hopefully earn myself a new contract and go from there."