Bryson DeChambeau suffered a nightmare start to his bid for back-to-back major victories on day one of the 152nd Open.
DeChambeau has been in brilliant form in the majors this season, finishing sixth in the Masters and runner-up in the US PGA Championship before edging out Rory McIlroy at Pinehurst to win a second US Open title.
His record in the Open is not so impressive, however, with just one top 10 in six starts, and the 30-year-old is competing at Royal Troon for the first time as he only turned professional three months before it last staged the Open in 2016.
DeChambeau acknowledged during practice that the back nine – which is usually played into the wind – “has some teeth” but with the wind switching directions it was the front nine which caused him all sorts of problems.
After three-putting the first, a wayward drive on the third cost DeChambeau another shot and he also bogeyed the fourth before running up an adventurous seven on the par-five sixth.
Despite his strength, DeChambeau could only advance his second shot a few yards from heavy rough, then hit his next onto the adjacent 13th fairway, missed the green with his approach and took three more shots to get down.
At five over par the world number nine was seven shots off the early clubhouse target set by Sweden’s Alex Noren, who only secured his place in the field via a tie for 10th in the Scottish Open on Sunday.
Noren carded four birdies and two bogeys in his 69, with playing partner Calum Scott, a 20-year-old Scottish amateur, also safely in the clubhouse on level par.
England’s Matt Wallace had threatened to set a tougher target when an eagle on the fourth and a birdie on the eighth took him to four under par, only to promptly run up a triple bogey on the ninth.
Two-time major winner Justin Thomas also reached four under par before a pulled drive into gorse bushes on the 12th led to a double bogey.
Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre and Rory McIlroy were all level par approaching the end of the front nine, while Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele and world number one Scottie Scheffler – looking for his seventh win of the year – were among the later starters.
Former champion Justin Leonard had got play under way at 6.35am, the 1997 winner at Troon returning a nine-over-par 80 that was two shots better than 2004 champion and playing partner Todd Hamilton.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
