The 144th Open Championship got underway at 6.30 am this Thursday morning, and there were five Irish players involved.
Dustin Johnson is the leader in the clubhouse, after taking advantage of the par fives, with a seven-under 65. Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spiethis hot on his tail at -5, perennial major contender Jason Day is at -6, and past St. Andrews champion Louis Oosthuizen is -5, while Tommy Fleetwood is -4.
It was a good morning for scoring, with calm conditions. Tiger Woods wasn't someone to make the most of it, and the Irish contingent had a mixed day, lead by amateur Paul Dunne.
Paul Dunne -3
Irish Amateur Paul Dunne was the best of the morning starters, even leading the tournament at one stage after birdieing his opening two holes. The 22-year-old turned into the back nine at four under par, before a bogey on the par three 11th halted his momentum. The Greystones golfer held it together on the difficult back nine however, and is the best of the Irish at -3.
Graeme McDowell E
The former US Open champion began the day by failing to make the most of the favourable conditions on the front nine. McDowell started with nine consecutive pars, before back-to-back birdies to start the inward nine gave his score some gloss.
A bogey at the 12th halted momentum, before another on the 16th dropped him back to level.
Shane Lowry +1
It was quite an up and down day for the Offaly golfer. The 28-year-old was one of the first bogeys of the day at the first, and even slipped to +2 after four holes while the rest of the field was flying. He managed to rally however, and five birdies on the seventh, ninth, tenth, 13th and 14th brought him all the way up to -3 before a disastrous closing saw him record an eight on the infamous road hole.
Darren Clarke +1
Arguably, 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke was more up and down than Lowry. Beginning with a tidy two birdies after three, Clarke then had four further bogeys around a birdie to fall down to +1 and a tie for 105th.
Padraig Harrington -1 after 13
Dublin's two time Open champion is hanging on to a good round. A costly bogey on the fourth hole was offset by two consecutive birdies on the par five fifth, and the sixth. Harrington then bounced back from bogey on the tricky par three with a brilliant birdie on the 12th - often cited as the hardest hole on the course.
