Scottie Scheffler sits at three under par after his opening front nine at Royal Birkdale, one stroke behind the early clubhouse lead as the 154th Open Championship gets underway in Southport, England.
According to Yahoo Sports, England's Daniel Brown and South Korea's Im Sung-jae set that clubhouse mark at four under par. Fellow American Bryson DeChambeau is also three under with six holes still to play in his first round.
The tournament marks Scheffler's return to links golf after a rough week at the Scottish Open, where he missed the cut and snapped a streak of 78 consecutive cuts made stretching back four years. He responded with four birdies in five consecutive holes between the second and sixth, before dropping a shot at the seventh to settle at three under. Scheffler addressed missing that cut directly, saying getting extra rest before a major is "never the worst thing, but I really hate missing cuts."
Scheffler won at Royal Portrush last year to claim his first Claret Jug, but 2026 has otherwise been a difficult year for the world number one. He has recorded just one win on the PGA Tour, back in January, and has not added to his four major titles. CBS Sports noted that while his golf remains among the best seen any given week, he has been unable to follow through with the consistency he showed in prior seasons.
Scotland's Robert MacIntyre is among the early movers, posting a three under par round of 67. The world number 15 has finished in the top 10 at the British Open three times in six attempts but has never won a major. He spoke plainly about what that would mean. "If I won an Open, won any major, if something happened, I could happily walk away from the game of golf," MacIntyre said. "It would be all my goals that I ever dreamed of complete if I did that, but there's a long way to go."
Tommy Fleetwood, the world number nine, is playing in his hometown of Southport and carries heavy local support into the week. His opening holes were quiet, with just one birdie and one bogey through his first ten. An Englishman has not been named Champion Golfer of the Year since Nick Faldo in 1992. Fleetwood, along with Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, is among the English players looking to change that.
Rory McIlroy has not yet teed off. He is scheduled to begin his round at 3:15 p.m. local time, grouped with 2024 champion Xander Schauffele and world number three Matt Fitzpatrick. McIlroy last won the Claret Jug in 2014 and came close to overtaking Scheffler as the betting favorite entering this week after his performance at the Scottish Open.
The tournament returns to Royal Birkdale for the first time in nine years. The Claret Jug will be awarded at the venue for the 11th time when the final round concludes Sunday. Television coverage in the United States runs on Peacock and USA Network through the first two rounds, with NBC picking up the weekend coverage beginning Saturday morning.
Round two tee times begin at 1:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday.
