By Ed Osmond
HOYLAKE, England (Reuters) – England’s Tommy Fleetwood, South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Argentine Emiliano Grillo shot first rounds of 66 to lead the British Open at a sun-kissed Hoylake on Thursday.
Fleetwood, bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, picked up four birdies on the back nine to match the towering Lamprecht and Grillo birdied the last hole late in the day to join them at five under par.
Roared on by the galleries at a course 30 miles from where he was born, the 32-year-old Fleetwood made the perfect start to his bid for a first major crown.
“It was very cool and you can’t ask for more from the fans and the support. They were so great to me today,” the world number 21 told reporters.
“Such a special opportunity to play so close to home. To be in the clubhouse now, to have played so well, it’s a lovely feeling.” Lamprecht, six foot eight inches tall, drove with great power and accuracy in a round including seven birdies and two bogeys.
“It’s pretty surreal,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s nice to see a lot of work behind the scenes pay off. It’s something I haven’t dreamt of yet.”
World number 41 Grillo was level-par at the turn but he conjured up five birdies coming home to make a three-way tie at the top.
“This is what I’m here for, I love it,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest honours in the world and I’m up there.”
Frenchman Antoine Rozner, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and American Brian Harman finished on four under, one stroke ahead of 50-year-old American Stewart Cink, his compatriots Wyndham Clark, the U.S. Open champion, and Max Homa, Sweden’s Alex Noren, Indian Shubhankar Sharma and Scotland’s Michael Stewart.
AMERICAN PRESENCE
Former British Open winner Jordan Spieth shot 69 and world number one Scottie Scheffler, PGA champion Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed were among a powerful group of Americans to card 70s and stay in touch with the leaders.
England’s Matthew Jordan, who had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also posted 69 along with Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Sweden’s Alexander Bjork, Italian Guido Migliozzi and England’s Oliver Wilson.
It was a mixed day for Australian defending champion Cameron Smith, whose 72 was sprinkled with five bogeys and four birdies, and tournament favourite Rory McIlroy eked out a scratchy level-par 71 as he bids for a fifth major title at the venue of his 2014 Open triumph.
A brilliant approach shot set up a birdie at the second but the world number two from Northern Ireland missed several short putts and cut a frustrated figure until he holed a snaking 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th green.
He also birdied the 15th and, after finding a greenside pot bunker on the last, he escaped at the second attempt with a chip from a very awkward stance to salvage par and finish three shots ahead of Spanish world number three Jon Rahm.
“I felt like I played OK,” McIlroy said. “I missed a couple of putts on the front nine, but started to get the putter going on the back nine.
“It was tricky out there this afternoon. The wind was blowing a bit, it was hard to get close to some pins. Even-par is a solid start.”
(Reporting by Ed Osmond; Editing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)
