The last big one of the season triggers tensions. The stars have engraved in their minds that the British Open is the fourth stop in capital letters on the calendar and that it closes an express section, with the four majors tight between April and July, which will not reopen until nine months later with the Masters. In the background, the pressure to win a place in the Ryder Cup in Rome or to bid for a position among those classified for the great biennial event. In this scenario, the world golf figures, the best cards of the American and European circuits and of the Saudi League (with the absence of Sergio García), and also many secondary actors began to elbow each other this Thursday in Liverpool.
The standings after day one at The 151st Open.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2023
The first dance discovered, for example, Christo Lamprecht, a 22-year-old amateur from South Africa who rises 2.07m from the ground, a stem that turns the swing in a lever that sends the ball at more than 300 kilometers per hour and that was pleased to sign 66 (-5) to rise to the top of the table. Along with him appears Emiliano Grillo, the first Argentine to lead a major since 2013 (then it was Ángel Cabrera in Augusta), and the boy from home Tommy Fleetwood, who once again opts for the top after six top-5 —second in the 2018 US Open and in the 2014 British—, after finishing fourth in the last edition of the Open.
A blow from behind, another surprise, the Basque Adrian Otaegui, who far exceeded that stumble from the bogey on the first hole of the day to go the rest of the way firmly and calmly and go down to -4. The 30-year-old boy from San Sebastián is one of those golfers who have moved between the Saudi League and the European circuit, where he triumphed, for example, at Valderrama before the Andalusian course moved to LIV. And he is one of those players who aim to sneak into the Ryder. His presentation in Liverpool, with four birdies in the last seven holes, she was brilliant, and her best round in a big one. “I haven’t gotten into trouble in the round, taking a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I am very happy, but now I only think about eating a plate of pasta”, commented the fourth in the classification.
Under the afternoon sun, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm shared the spotlight, two symbols of the PGA and this time fellow adventurers in a match followed by many fans. But neither of them dazzled, the Northern Irishman sober and the Spanish foolish. And that Rahm kicked on hole 4 from outside green and his fast impact was only stopped by the flag to ensure another pair in a very regular start, overcoming obstacles. I went back and forth as McIlroy transited from birdie early riser from 2 to a second bad blow on 4 that condemned him to bogey. Rahm also did not squeeze the par five of the 5 despite the great tee shot, weighed down by a trip to the rough. And a putt deviated short charged him with a bogey at 7. His first nine holes were a survival manual.
He putt long in the 10th gave Rahm his first birdie of the day, as if it were a swerve to his round. But she missed the green at 11 and 12 he landed out in the bunker after hitting a spectator with his ball. Bogey and turn back. Or downhill, since he did not take advantage of the par five of 15 and added two bogeys in 16 and 18, entangled again in the bunker. More tempered, McIlroy ended up straightening out the lap and taking advantage of that stretch at the end of the round to stabilize at par. “I haven’t taken advantage of the easy holes, the ones at the beginning. I have not taken a street. I’ve hit good irons at 18, 15, 14, 9… I’ve been close to having good shot options. birdiebut then I left two putts of a meter in 15 and 16 that hurt. It is what it is. The result hurts me because I haven’t played badly. There is still a long way to go, especially if it rains,” Rahm explained.
The third pawn of the triumvirate, Scheffler, the number one, unleashed one of those starts where he seems like a player in a trance: two birdies on the first four holes. But even the best walks through patches of darkness, and the American turned earthy when he missed the par-5 of 5 without discounting another shot and tarnished the card with bogeys in 8 and 12. But it was corrected in the final five pairs until the final -1. From behind, Cameron Smith, the defender of the Jarra de Clarete (+1), suffered after some out-of-tune second holes.
Among the large Spanish army, Larrazábal signed +1, waiting for that version that has made him shine on the European circuit and knock on the doors of the Ryder. The same result was obtained by Nacho Elvira. Josele Ballester, a student at Arizona State, the university that raised Rahm, delivered with +2 the best card for a Spanish amateur in the British. Alejandro Cañizares dropped to +4 and Adri Arnaus and Jorge Campillo sank with +11.
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