Royal Troon has provided the toughest first round of The Open Championship since 2013, so it’s perhaps no surprise that a man like Shane Lowry leads the leaderboard after 18 holes of play. With a bogey-free 66, the 2019 champion cut the course average at Royal Troon by more than eight strokes and moved within one shot of surprise leader Daniel Brown (-6). Both sit ahead of notable names like Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler.
Lowry’s 66 represents the best opening round of his major career and his first 18-hole lead in such a tournament. It matches his previous best position at this stage of the Open: he was one shot behind JB Holmes at Royal Portrush in 2019. It led to Lowry’s only career major victory, as he lifted the Claret Jug that Sunday.
“I played pretty well. I’m pretty happy. But it’s only one day. We’ve got three more,” Lowry said. “I kept telling myself that on the court because for some reason I felt like the crowd was really excited. It was late in the afternoon. After a couple of points, the crowd was really big, I would say. They were pretty excited, and it felt like it was the weekend.”
“I kept telling myself there was still a lot to do and there were a few days left, so I just stuck to my lane and hit a few good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I did.”
The Irishman tees off in the afternoon and enjoys a reprieve from the weather conditions compared to those on the course Thursday morning. With the wind having died down a bit, Lowry combined solid ball striking with a scorching putter to move to the top of the leaderboard.
Needing just 25 putts on the day, he made all 14 of his attempts inside 10 feet, including a 5-foot birdie on the final hole to take a share of the lead heading into Friday. Brown trailed Lowry on the course and the leaderboard at that point, but once the Englishman made a late birdie on No. 16, Lowry had company at the top. Another birdie on the final hole for Brown propelled him back to the top of the leaderboard.
That’s where the Open stands with 54 holes to play as Lowry bids to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2012 to win a second Claret Jug.
“If I don’t play well the next three rounds, it doesn’t matter what I played today,” Lowry said. “I’m fully aware that I have work to do over the next three days. Listen, I would give anything to win this tournament again. I would give anything to give myself a chance to win this tournament again, and that’s why I’m here this week. This is obviously a good start to doing that.”
2024 Open Championship standings, round 1
1. Daniel Brown (-6): Lowry’s presence at the top of the leaderboard is no surprise. Brown, on the other hand, is the definition of a surprise, trailing by just one after 18 holes. Before finishing outside the top 60 at the Scottish Open and cashing his check, he had missed six consecutive cuts on the DP World Tour. Brown looked like a completely different man today, going one of three bogey-free rounds and missing just one fairway.
2. Shane Lowry (-5)
3. Justin Thomas (-3): How do you feel about a 14-shot improvement? After opening last year’s Open with an 82, Thomas opened this year’s championship with a 68. The first-round leader at the Scottish Open finished outside the top 60 by the end of the week. Thomas will have to prove he can keep that momentum going over the next 54 holes. The majors haven’t been kind to him the last two years, as he entered this week having missed the cut on five of the last seven.
T4. Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Alex Noren, Nicolai Hojgaard, Russell Henley (-2): Rose is THE The veteran of the rankings is an Englishman who was impeccable on Thursday with two birdies against 16 pars. He ranked second in strokes gained from tee to green and should have realistic staying power having already played in the PGA Championship this season. After having to go through qualifying for the Open, Rose positioned himself to win the Open with 54 holes remaining.
“It’s obvious, right? I’m going to be 44 soon. History tells us that time is running out,” Rose said. “But I think the Open gives you that opportunity maybe more than some of the other majors. Yeah, I’m still very confident in myself and I think I can still improve tomorrow than I did today. As long as that’s the case, I’ll keep believing.”
T11. Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sepp Straka, Matt Wallace, Chris Kirk (-1): This group is littered with major champions. Scheffler made a sneaky effort Thursday, birdieing two of his last three holes to slide into the red. Meanwhile, Koepka found something with his putter — which has mostly deserted him in 2024 — and birdied four straight at one point in his first round. Scott was fantastic from tee to green, cracking the top five in what was his 93rd consecutive major appearance.
T18. Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Joaquin Niemann, Min Woo Lee and nine others (E): You want to talk about firepower? This crop of players has exactly that. Spieth managed to get up and down 300 yards on the par-5 16th to briefly find himself in the red. A drop shot on the 17th brought him back into even play, as did Finau a few hours earlier. Both players hit solid irons, but it was Niemann who was the deadliest off the tee, hitting 12 of 14 fairways.
T31. Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon, Billy Horschel and eight others (+1): MacIntyre joked that he may not have had the best preparation for this championship because of the hangover he suffered on Monday after his Scottish Open victory. Despite that, the Scot held his ground. A late birdie helped ease the pain of a couple of missed birdies in the middle of his round. MacIntyre has been a great top-level competitor over the years and looks to be in a good position again.
T42. Jon Rahm, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Cantlay and 23 others (+2): Rahm has had a disappointing major championship season, but despite a 73, he still has a chance to turn things around. All of those players shot below par on the course and many of them had to deal with the toughest conditions. Rahm struggled to get going, Harman struggled to get into the greens and Hatton said he hit the ball as poorly as he has all year.
“The greens are firm. The greens are really firm,” Harman said. “We got a message this morning that they were about 5 percent firmer and it was very noticeable, especially coming downwind. It’s almost impossible to stop the ball.”
T70. Dustin Johnson, Davis Thompson, Keegan Bradley and 10 others (+3)
T83. Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama and 10 others (+4)
T96. Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Kim, Max Homa, Sungjae Im, Will Zalatoris and 18 others (+5): DeChambeau was punched in the face as he played his first six holes in 5-over par. After shooting 42, the U.S. Open champion did well to come back over his next nine holes. An eagle on the 16th hole put his name just outside the cut line heading into the second round.
T120. Sahith Theegala, Henrik Stenson, Lucas Glover and seven others (+6)
T129. Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Louis Oosthuizen and five others (+7): McIlroy’s redemption story will have to find a new framework. After playing his first seven holes in par, the four-time Grand Slam champion played his next four holes in 5-over par. Two bogeys on his final four holes capped one of the worst rounds of McIlroy’s Open career.
T138. Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and five others (+8): With a 79, Woods’ scoring average in majors this season is now 75.4. He got off to a good start with an early birdie, but his sloppiness throughout the round caused Tiger’s name to fall down the leaderboard as the tour progressed. He hasn’t played an Open weekend since 2018 at Carnoustie, an event he nearly won.
“I mean, he only plays majors,” Schauffele said of Woods. “He makes it as hard as he can, and I know he’s hard on himself, too. It’s just tough. I think he’s learning. He’s got to learn a little bit about his body, what he can and can’t do. I’m sure he’d like to prepare more at home if his body allows him to. All that, I’m not sure if he’d tell you or not. But as a tour pro now, I kind of know what it takes and what it takes to play at a high level. If your body doesn’t allow you to, it’s just frustrating. I’m sure he’s trying to figure that out.”