SOUTHPORT, England — It’s Thursday in England, and — this just in! — Scottie Scheffler is still good at golf.
That’s the biggest headline from the first several hours of play at this 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. The world No. 1’s fine play in the early going — he birdied four of the first six holes, turned in 31 and, as of this writing is three under through 13 — comes in the wake of his first missed cut since the Carter administration. Scheffler’s Scottish Open dud last week was so surprising to Scheffler himself that he had no idea what to do with himself in the aftermath.
“One of my buddies who plays out here had a long text to me about what you can do when you miss a cut,” Scheffler said with a laugh during his pre-tournament presser on Tuesday. “He was like, Hey, you can practice at the facilities. You can still go to the gym. You can also go to the next tournament. It was basically all my options. He never sent it to me, but he told me about it. I was like, Oh, you should have sent it; I was a bit lost.”
On Thursday at the Open, though, it looked like the time off had done Scheffler some good. He’s where we begin our recap of the action for those back home in the states who might have been enjoying REM when play began here around 2 a.m. EST.
5 Open Championship storylines you missed while you were sleeping
1. Here comes Scottie!
Scheffler came out of the gate sizzling, briefly surging into the lead at Royal Birkdale. Critically, his opening birdie barrage stretch was powered by more than 40 feet of combined made-putts, suggesting Scheffler’s recent bugaboo with the flatstick might be wearing off.
Scheffler subsequently gave back a shot on the 6th hole, but remains in the thick of contention as the clock flips to a balmy Thursday afternoon at Birkdale.
2. The hometown kid
It was an inauspicious start to the action for the Open’s most prominent hometown hero. After bogeys on the 10th and 12th holes, Tommy Fleetwood turned for home on Thursday at one over, good for five shots off the early clubhouse lead set by Sungjae Im and Daniel Brown.
Fleetwood’s roots in Southport are no small part of the proceedings this week, and after England’s heartbreak in the World Cup on Wednesday night, there’s little doubt the Open crowds are hoping to find a feel-good story in their local star.
Fleetwood still has a handful of birdie opportunities down the back nine ahead of him, but after the talk of the U.S. Open surrounded how hard it is to win with the crowd against you, Fleetwood is showing it might be just as hard with the crowd at your back.
3. The (real) hometown kid
Speaking of hometown heroes, the Open’s first tee ball belonged to a player with an even more compelling hometown story: Matthew Baldwin, who keeps his primary residence just 10 minutes from Royal Birkdale and who also calls this week’s host course his home club.
It was an up-and-down day for Baldwin following his early tee time: He three birdies to five bogeys and finished at 2 over, good for T72.
4. Browning out
If you haven’t already, take a second to check out the photos below of the golf course at Royal Birkdale as play began.
The highlight? It’s baked!
Golfers made their first tournament swings on the browned-out course at Birkdale on Thursday morning, watching as drives traveled as far as 375 yards on the pool-table-firm turf (Gary Woodland) and golf balls hopped like kids’ bouncy balls off the layout’s hills and ripples.
On site, the vibes could not have been any better. Fans watched with delight as balls landed on turf with thuds, and cheered as players navigated conditions that encouraged creativity.
For those who might not be familiar with the quirks of links golf, firm and fast is optimal — even when it’s the kind of coloring that would send your landscaper into a tizzy. It’s been a while since the weather has cooperated for long enough to produce these kinds of colors at an Open Championship, perhaps as long as Royal Liverpool two decades ago. But four consecutive days of sunny skies and temps in the mid-80s have combined to give us a glimpse of links glory.
5. Bryson sighting
Among the crowd at three under at the time of this writing? Bryson DeChambeau, the LIV lynchpin who needs a weekend at the Open Championship to fend off a major championship season with four consecutive missed cuts.
DeChambeau has kept a low profile at the Open, turning down a pre-tournament interview and generally ducking the leering eyes of the Open’s gaggle of roving TV commentators, and the quiet appears to be working for him. He’s bogey-free through 13 holes and taking advantage of the conditions despite a golf course far more narrow than his typical liking.
