Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments in the Tennis Calendar, The Open promises the fans top-notch Golf over the duration of the tournament. The much-awaited Day 1 of the Open saw a mixed day for the best-in-class Golfers with some of them ending their rounds gloriously and some ingloriously. India’s Shubhankar Sharma was delighted to have passed his first-round test after signing for a bogey-free one-under-par 70 at The 148th Open on Thursday.

 

 

 

 

Playing alongside world number one Brooks Koepka of the United States and 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion showed he could match up to anyone on his day with his steady performance at Royal Portrush.

 

 

 

“It was a good day today. One-under is always a good start and I couldn’t have asked for more. The major takeaway from today was I managed to stay bogey-free as I made a few crucial par putts coming in especially the ones from 14 to 16,” said Sharma. The Indian marked his card with 12 straight pars starting from the first hole before he finally sank a 30-feet putt for his first and only birdie of the day at the par-three 13.

 

 

Unanticipated names at the top of the leaderboard

 

 

 

 

Day 1 also saw some of the unanticipated players making their way at the top of the leaderboard. 37-year-old JB Holmes from has missed the cut in five of his nine Open starts, but he played beautifully in the breeze and sits alone at the top of the leaderboard at five-under 66. A shot behind him is Shane Lowry, who's a terrible record in the Open (he’s missed the cut in each of the last four) never really made sense given his Irish roots and his remarkable set of hands.

 

 

 

 

Disastrous start for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

 

 

It was an opening day marked by downfalls. Tiger Woods, despite his empty insistence that his lack of preparation was a work of meticulous planning, toiled miserably over 18 bruising, purple-cheeked holes bereft of any highlights. His seven-over-par finish was his worst score on the opening day of an Open for 17 years and left him paddling at the depths of the leaderboard.

 

 

 

 

Rory endured a tragic round on his homecoming, drowning in a cloak of nerves after skewing his tee-shot out of bounds on the first-tee en route to a quadruple-bogey and finishing with a dire triple that left him on eight-over-par and in a tie for 150th place.

 

 

MORE INTERESTING SNIPPETS

 

• Emiliano Grillo made an ace at the 13th. The first hole-in-one at The Open since 2016
• Brooks Koepka, winner of four of the last 10 majors, is two shots off the lead after a 3-under 68
• After Holmes and Lowry, a large group of contenders was clustered two shots back at 3 under par, including well-known players like Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau and Jon Rahm.