Earlier, Carnoustie looked like defying its usual image of being ‘Car-Nasty’ as benign and wind-less conditions with gorgeous sunshine greeted the golfers in the morning.

 

That allowed the morning wave to help itself to a bunch of birdies and eagles. But later, the sweltering and the wind switched 90 degrees from South-West to South-East and that made it difficult to score.

 

 

 

                                              Shubhankar was happy with his first round at the Open 

 

 

It was a mixed bag for Indian Golfers as the talented Shubhankar Sharma got off to a battling start, signing for an opening two-over-par 73 in his debut appearance at The 147th Open at Carnoustie on Thursday. Anirban Lahiri carded a 5-over 76 on the opening day, leaving him with a mountain to climb in his bid for a weekend appearance at the 147th Open Championship.

 

 

As Anirban Lahiri went through a ‘birdie-free’ round of 5-over 76, Kevin Kisner gave the Americans a lot to cheer as he added to their domination of the Majors with his 5-under 66.

 

 

Sharma, who celebrates his 22^nd birthday on Saturday, carded one birdie against three bogeys to trail leader Kevin Kisner of the United States by seven shots in tied-72nd position at the year’s third Major championship.

 

“I am very happy with my opening round, considering that I was three-over after 13 holes and last few holes are supposed to be tough but I finished one-under there. I was hitting the ball really well. I had a few birdie opportunities as well but didn’t manage to convert.

 

 

Lahiri grapples to make an impact 

 

 

 

 

                                              It was a disappointing day for Anirban Lahiri 

 

 

In terms of stats, Anirban Lahiri found only 20 per cent of the fairways hit only 50 per cent greens in regulation and needed as many as 31 putts. His bogeys came on fourth, ninth and 16th and he double-bogeyed the 10^th and there were no birdies.

 

He said, “I didn’t get off a good start. It was only two or three holes in that I started to tidy things up a bit. I missed a lot of shots right. I am disappointed to go birdie-free today. I definitely left a lot of shots out there. I couldn’t take advantage of the par-fives as well. Generally, I found a lot of bad spots off the tees today, a couple of three putts as well. I struggled a little bit with the speed of the greens. A little bit with my body as well but I think it kind of eased out towards the end of the round.”

 

 

Kevin Kisner: Leading the pack and how!

 

 

 

                                               Kevin Kisner is definitely on a roll 

 

When Kevin Kisner posted his five-under 66 just after 12:30 p.m. local time in Scotland, it certainly didn't feel like he'd be leading the Open Championship at day's end. There were still 44 more groups to come in behind him, and with Carnoustie's greens looking as receptive as they'll be all week, chances were that someone would go lower.

 

But no one did on Thursday, and Kisner's round, which featured just 22 putts, held up, giving him a one-shot lead over Erik Van Rooyen, Zander Lombard and Tony Finau. It's Kisner's best round in the Open, and likely one of the best putting performances of his career given the circumstances. It also didn't come without some hard work.

 

 

The leaderboard on the opening day was dominated by some of the unexpected names like Kisner E van Rooyen, Z. Lombard, T. Finau, B Steele and more. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiger still has it at the Open

 

 

 

 

                                    Woods still has a chance to make The Open his 15th major championship title

 

 

Tiger Woods shot even-par 71 in the first round at Carnoustie, leaving him five shots behind the leader Kevin Kisner. Woods still has a chance to make The Open his 15th major championship title, and his first in 10 years. But even if Woods and his stiff, 42-year-old neck ultimately falters on the toughest course in the Open rotation, Thursday offered a stark reminder of the magnitude of Tiger's star power and the impact it has had on those who idolized him in his prime and still idolize him now.

 

 

MORE INTERESTING SNIPPETS

 

• Brendan Steele wins the longest drive competition, with an average of 373 yards from the tee. Monstrous.
• This is the first time Tiger Woods has been under par through the first front nine of a major since the 2013 US PGA Championship.
• Jordan Spieth was making a decent fist of getting his hands on the Claret Jug again less than a week after handing it back when he reached three-under after 11 holes, though he then dropped four shots in the final four to head for the clubhouse at one over and in a philosophical mood.
• Justin Rose, one of the American’s playing partners, finished with the same opening score but with a sense of relief after what had become a difficult day in mid-round. Both players remain firmly in contention here but they will need to progress in their second rounds.