A trio of Englishmen made superb starts to the 153rd Open Championship on a rain-lashed opening morning at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick slam-dunked a chip for birdie on the notoriously difficult par-three 16th to join unheralded Dane Jacob Skov Olesen and China’s Li Haotong in the lead on four under par.
Matthew Jordan briefly reached that number but is one back after a 68, while Lee Westwood, who finished fourth when The Open last visited this course in 2019, is in a group at two under.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who looked like he was not particularly enjoying the stormy weather, and hit just three out of 14 fairways, had two late birdies to join Jordan on three under.
The American was playing with Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who won here amid tumultuous scenes in 2019 and posted an opening 70.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele had three bogeys and three birdies in a level-par 71, while Spain’s Jon Rahm was one better off.
Home favourite Rory McIlroy, who famously hit his opening shot out of bounds six years ago, avoided the same fate this year but is among the later starters and teed off at 15:10 BST, alongside 2019 runner-up Tommy Fleetwood.
The weather was dry as they headed out but more rain is forecast to hit the Antrim coast.