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Irish Independent
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
The Open: Shane Lowry off to a flier with opening birdie at Royal Portrush
Koepka has gone under the radar all week to as is straight in the red - caddied round, of course, by local Portrush man Rickie Elliott. And will Portstewart-man-at-heart Jon Rahm follow that up? He has every chance after a super second which tickles down the hill to inside 10 feet for birdie at the first. Edit: No such luck for Rahm and it's an opening par.
Irish Independent
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
The Open: Shane Lowry gets his challenge underway at Royal Portrush
Just now Gareth Hanna There's a feel-good factor oozing all over Royal Portrush. You have voices from America, Australia, Canada, Japan, all over the UK and Ireland. But most are locals and they are LOVING it! Shane Lowry got a phenomenal welcome on the first. But the star of the show so far, for me? Phil Mickelson. Chief Sports Reporter - Steven Beacom 3 minutes ago Gareth Hanna More on the Saturday evening situation Band parade that clashes with The Open will rival Belfast Twelfth: 'We understand the changes don't suit everyone' An annual band parade taking place in Portrush on Saturday — coinciding with the third day of The Open Championship — will feature as many bands as Belfast did on the Twelfth. 6 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Cracker from the 2019 champ Shane Lowry bursts one down the first, over 300 yards past the bunker for the best opening shot of the day so far. Re-run of six years ago, anyone? 7 minutes ago Adam McKendry Pin seeker! Almost the most unlikely of birdies for Pádraig Harrington as he chips from the back of the green and it hits the flag but bounces away to a couple of feet for a guaranteed par! We have a new co-leader, though, and it's Nicolai Højgaard as he rolls in that birdie putt, but Tom McKibbin has gone the other way as he runs his chip well past the hole and can't make the comebacker. Bogey, back to level-par. 8 minutes ago Gareth Hanna The big names are coming Koepka has gone under the radar all week to as is straight in the red - caddied round, of course, by local Portrush man Rickie Elliott. And will Portstewart-man-at-heart Jon Rahm follow that up? He has every chance after a super second which tickles down the hill to inside 10 feet for birdie at the first. Edit: No such luck for Rahm and it's an opening par. 12 minutes ago Adam McKendry 13 could be a pivotal hole Watch the scoring average on this par-three today. It's already a difficult hole as is, downhill with the green sloping away from you, but it's also downwind today which makes it even tougher to get the ball to stop, as Pádraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin have found to their detriment as they run the ball through the back of the green. There could be some big numbers on this hole today, even Nicolai Højgaard's approach was about ten feet away initially but has run out to 20. 16 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Wham, bam, Jon Rahm No holding back from the LIV golfer, who won the Irish Open at Portstewart, as he launches his drive straight down the middle on the first. Makes it look easy. He's heading out alongside Xander Schauffele and JJ Spaun as we enter the feature group section, with Brooks Koepka up ahead (and -1 after a birdie at the first) and the combo of Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler coming behind. 20 minutes ago Adam McKendry Perfect bounceback Tom McKibbin's eagle putt on 12 never scares the hole from around 30 feet but he will more than happily settle for the birdie that gets him back to -1 - the perfect response to the double on 11. Harrington follows him in, two-putting from 15 feet for his first birdie since the first hole (remember when he led this tournament?!) to get back to +3 and Nicolai Højgaard makes it a trio of birdies on the par-five by pitching up to seven feet and draining the putt to join McKibbin at -1! 22 minutes ago Gareth Hanna And it's three at the top Joining Westwood and Mickelson at -2 is world number 111 Haotong L, thanks to birdies at the fifth, where Westwood had driven the par four green by the way, and the par five seventh. Looks like he needs to acclimatise to the fresh, Portrush morning. Gareth Hanna On the horizon The Open on Twitter / X Sun and rain on the is links golf. The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025 26 minutes ago Adam McKendry "What a shot Pádraig!" The fans are delighted as Harrington pulls a three-wood from the rough down the right hand side of the par-five 12th and bounces it along the fairway, up along the slope in front of the green... and nearly holes it! Is that the start of a resurgence? He's the closest of this group, that's for sure, with McKibbin also on the green in two but further away and Højgaard having to lay up after driving into a fairway bunker. 35 minutes ago No substitute for experience Mickelson has now been joined at the top of the board by Lee Westwood after a tidy birdie at the downhill, par five fifth. The duo leading Then Open - combined age of 107. 36 minutes ago Adam McKendry Mickelson solo leader That's because Tom McKibbin and Nicolai Højgaard have both DOUBLE-BOGEYED the par-four 11th after their tee shots. Højgaard was closer to getting just a bogey with a brilliant approach from the fairway with his second ball, but he can't hole the eight footer for the second ball birdie, while McKibbin was disappointingly short with his pitch shot and leaves himself too much to do with the putt, so they're both back to level. Harrington secures his par with a lovely chip for the up-and-down, he stays +4. 39 minutes ago Gareth Hanna 'Just tell them Darren sent you' Anybody else remember those old TV ads he did? It's still the first thing pops into my head when I see him. Anyway, Clarke's currently two over par after six, having made back-to-back bogeys on three and four. New Your Golf Travel Sky TV advert featuring Darren Clarke & Frankie Dettori 44 minutes ago Adam McKendry Uh oh Tom McKibbin takes a swipe at his ball and leaves it in the fescue. This is going to be a costly hole for him and Højgaard, whose drive was never found. McKibbin recovers to get his third shot back onto the fairway but he's scrambling just to make bogey here. 47 minutes ago Adam McKendry Ball spotting This is the scene on 11 as players, caddies, marshals and fans alike search for Nicolai Højgaard's drive. They're certain it went in there but nobody has found it yet. Tom McKibbin's has been found but he will be playing out sideways from an ugly, ugly lie. If he can advance this forward at all, he's doing really well. 51 minutes ago Gareth Hanna First sign of trouble? It's a wayward drive for McKibbin on 11 as it balloons out to the right towards some gorse bushes. Marshals immediately scamper to where it plunged into the thick stuff and stamp around in an effort to locate the ball. Sub-optimal. 54 minutes ago Adam McKendry "It's knocking my confidence" Pádraig Harrington remonstrates with his caddy Ronan Flood as we walk from the 10th green to the 11th tee. "I can't get anything going on the greens and it's really knocking my confidence," he sighs. "These are really, really difficult greens." Harrington has had three three-putts in his round already and just missed a short one on 10 that, if he cut all of those out, he'd still be level-par. On a lighter note, I've just received a notification on my watch that I've hit my daily step count for the day at 9.23am. Not bad. 58 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Eagle chance for Phil Two super shots get him beyond the pin on the 607-yard par five seventh, where Jacob Skov Olesen has just walked off with birdie to make it three players tied for the lead at two under par. Should Phil get his two-putt birdie, that'll soon be four tied at the top. Edit: Birdie it is and Phil's joint for the lead! 58 minutes ago Adam McKendry For the lead... Højgaard nestles his long putt up close at 10, so he's in for par to stay at -2. That gives McKibbin a putt to go top on his own. It's on the line he wants it to be, it's tracking... it's missed. Dived to the left at the last second and missed low. Still a par and still at -2. Pádraig, meanwhile, pars his second ball and nearly managed to birdie it thanks to a brilliant approach, but that's a double-bogey on the card and he's down to +4 now. 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