June 23, 2024; Cromwell, Conn., USA; Justin Thomas hits the ball off the fourth tee during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports Little-known Daniel Brown of England birdied Nos. 16 and 18 as darkness approached to shoot a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 and take the first-round lead of the 152nd Open Championship on Thursday at Royal Troon in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Brown, ranked 272nd in the world, moved past 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry after the Irishman set the pace with a bogey-free 66. Justin Thomas is alone in third after a 3-under-par 68.
A former DP World Tour winner, Brown, 29, had a forgettable round in his major championship debut.
After playing the first nine holes in 2 under par, Brown briefly evened Lowry’s lead at 4 under with a pair of improbable birdie putts – from nearly 35 feet on No. 10 and from about 42 feet on No. 11.
Lowry then holed his second shot on the par-4 18th hole from 5 feet to the hole, sparking a roar from the crowd, and set up a decisive birdie to regain sole possession of the lead.
“It’s only one day. We’ve got three more,” Lowry said. “I kept telling myself that on the field because for some reason I felt like the crowd was really excited.”
But Brown remained calm over the final nine holes as visibility began to fade. He recovered from a missed second shot on the par-5 16th and holed a 13-foot birdie putt to tie Lowry again. Then he holed an 8-foot putt around 9:30 p.m. local time to take over the lead.
After missing the fairway and green on the par-4 10th hole, Lowry made a crucial save by holing a 24-foot putt for par. He continued his momentum to the 11th hole, where his 20 1/2-foot birdie putt fell, giving the tournament its first new outright lead in several hours.
“I went out there, I got a chance to watch a lot of golf this morning and I saw that the course wasn’t easy to play,” Lowry said. “Yeah, I just tried to play my game and hit some good shots and hole some putts, and I did, and I’m pretty happy.”
Thomas, a two-time major champion who has struggled in recent seasons, set the tone early with seven birdies to offset two bogeys and a double. A chip-in birdie on the second hole put him on track, and he was 4 under par after 11 holes before losing his tee shot on the par-4 12th hole.
Settling for a double bogey there and a bogey on No. 13 didn’t put him out of contention in the cool, rainy conditions on the Scottish seaside. Thomas birdied his final two holes, holing a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to take the lead.
“I feel like everything is going in the right direction and I’m working on the right things,” said Thomas, who has not won since the 2022 PGA Championship. “Like I said, I haven’t really had much to show for it. That’s just the way this game works sometimes. But I know I’m close to winning, and I’m going to keep playing and not for the results, just for my game, and it’ll come.”
Defending PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele battled for the lead with three birdies in his first 11 holes before settling for a 2-under 69. He is tied with six others, including Justin Rose, the 43-year-old Englishman who had to go through final qualifying to advance.
World number one Scottie Scheffler finished birdie-bogey-birdie to post a 1-under 70. Former major winners Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick of England and Adam Scott of Australia also shot 70s.
Northern Ireland native Rory McIlroy is in danger of missing the cut on Friday after a disastrous 7-over 78. On the par-3 8th hole, nicknamed “Postage Stamp” because of its small green, McIlroy found “The Coffin” bunker off the tee. On his first attempt at a putt, the ball slid down the slope into the sand.
After recording a double bogey there and another at No. 10, McIlroy went out of bounds on the par-4 11th and suffered another double bogey.
“The conditions are very difficult with a wind that we haven’t seen so far this week,” McIlroy said. “I guess when that happens, you play your practice rounds, you have a strategy that you think is going to help you move around the golf course, but then when you have a wind that you haven’t played in, it starts to present different options and you start thinking about maybe hitting a few clubs that you haven’t hit in practice. Yeah, just one of those days where I didn’t adapt well enough to the conditions.”
Tiger Woods also struggled with an 8-over-par 79. He hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation and had two double bogeys, along with two birdies and six bogeys.
–Field level media
