PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) - The Latest on first round of The British Open (all times local):
8:50 p.m.
Tiger Woods says he was “sore” during his round of 78 at the British Open and wasn’t moving as well as he did in winning the Masters in April.
The 15-time major champion says there are certain shots he can’t hit the way he used to because of “Father Time and some procedures I’ve had over time.”
Woods had four back surgeries in a span of about three years to 2017.
Woods, who made six bogeys and a double bogey, said his warmup wasn’t very good and that he was “just trying to piece together a swing that will get me around a golf course.”
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8:15 p.m.
Tiger Woods puffed out his cheeks and looked glum after bogeying the last hole for a 7-over 78, his worst opening round at a British Open.
His highest first-round score at golf’s oldest major before this year was 76 at St. Andrews in 2015.
Woods’ rough patch at Royal Portrush came around the turn, when he made four bogeys and a double bogey in a span of six holes. His only birdie came at the par-4 15th hole - and he reacted by spreading out his arms and licking his finger.
With Rory McIlroy shooting 79, two of the biggest names in golf are struggling to make the weekend.
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7:30 p.m.
Shane Lowry has finally been overtaken. J.B. Holmes is the new leader of the British Open.
The American birdied the last hole at Royal Portrush for a 5-under 66, leaving him a stroke clear of Lowry.
Holmes’ only bogey of the day came at the par-4 first hole.
Jon Rahm missed a 3-foot par putt at No. 15 to drop out of the lead. It was his second bogey of the back nine, having made five birdies to go out in 31.
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6 p.m.
Ryan Fox birdied six of his last seven holes to shoot 29 on his back nine at Royal Portrush.
No other player to finish his first round at the British Open so far has bettered 33 coming home.
Fox birdied Nos. 12-15, and then Nos. 17 and 18. He shot 3-under 68 and was one stroke off the lead held by Shane Lowry.
Brooks Koepka had been sharing the lead with Lowry but made his first bogey of the day, at the 17th, to drop to 3 under.
Tiger Woods was 6 over and without a birdie after 10 holes.
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5:40 p.m.
Rory McIlroy says heightened expectations played no part in his 8-over 79 that has already ended any realistic chances of winning the British Open.
McIlroy says he was nervous on the first tee, where he went out of bounds, but not because he was playing a major in his home country for the first time.
He says missing a tap-in at the 16th was “inexcusable.”
McIlroy says “I’m pretty sure anyone starting with a 79 in this golf tournament doesn’t think about winning at this point.”
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5:15 p.m.
Brooks Koepka has won three of the last six majors and he’s sharing the lead at the British Open, too.
The top-ranked American birdied the par-4 14th to join Shane Lowry of Ireland atop the leaderboard at Royal Portrush. Koepka has yet to make a bogey, but does have the tough closing stretch to come.
Koepka is bidding to win his fifth major and is showing remarkable consistency at golf’s top events this year. He tied for second at the Masters, won the PGA Championship, and was runner-up at the U.S. Open.
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3:30 p.m.
A quadruple-bogey 8 at the first hole might not have been the most embarrassing part of Rory McIlroy’s wild opening round at the British Open.
Three-putting from 4 feet for a double at the par-3 16th also left the Northern Irishman shaking his head, and a triple-bogey 7 at No. 18 saw him stumble home for an 8-over 79. It tied his worst first round at the British Open.
McIlroy was 12 strokes off the lead, his major drought almost certainly extending to a sixth year.
Tiger Woods got up and down from a greenside bunker to make par on his opening hole as rain returned to Royal Portrush.
Shane Lowry remained in sole possession of the clubhouse lead at 4 under.
Jordan Spieth was only a shot behind making three birdies in his first five holes.
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2:40 p.m.
Graeme McDowell had to wipe a tear from his eye when he teed off in his hometown at the British Open.
That gave way to frustration at the end of his round.
McDowell, born and raised in Portrush and a member at adjacent Rathmore Golf Club, was one shot out of the early lead when he three-putted for bogey on the 15th and dropped another shot on the 17th. Then, he sent his drive well to the right on the 18th hole into grass so thick that he never found the golf ball in the three minutes allowed for the search.
He went back to the tee for his third shot and missed a 7-foot putt to take triple bogey.
On the leaderboard for so much of his round, he signed for a 73.
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2 p.m.
Shane Lowry has set the early target in the British Open with a 4-under 67, eight shots lower than his best opening round in the other three majors this year. And making it extra special was doing it on Irish soil.
Among those one shot behind was Dylan Frittelli, the last man to qualify for the Open by winning the John Deere Classic. He was joined by Sergio Garcia, Webb Simpson and Alex Noren, along with another player who might need some introduction.
Bob MacIntyre of Scotland made it into his first Open with a pair of runner-up finishes on the European Tour this year to get into the top 20 in the points list. He has one career victory since turning pro. That was two years ago at the Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship on the MENA Tour, which stands for Middle East North Africa.
MacIntyre was tied with Lowry until a bogey on the final hole. Still, it was an impressive debut.
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1:15 p.m.
Rory McIlroy’s opening tee shot hit a woman out of bounds and broke a cell phone in her pocket.
The R&A said a 34-year-old woman from Northern Ireland was standing along the side of the first fairway when she was hit by the errant shot.
McIlroy had to take a provisional tee shot and ended up with a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole.
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1 p.m.
The weather is changing at the British Open, and so is Rory McIlroy’s score.
After a dry start to the tournament at Royal Portrush, the rain started to fall a few minutes before No. 1-ranked Brooks Koepka was ready to tee off.
McIlroy, who knows the course by the North Atlantic well, opened with a quadruple-bogey 8 and added another bogey on the third. But he pulled one back on the seventh and another on the ninth to go out in 3-over 39.
Kevin Kisner, who led for the first three rounds at Carnoustie last year, was at 4 under after eight holes, the same score as clubhouse leader Shane Lowry of Ireland.
Sunny spells are expected to return later in the day.
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12:15 p.m.
David Duval posted a 13 on the par-5 seventh hole at the British Open.
The 2001 champion also had a quadruple-bogey 8 on the fifth at Royal Portrush. He birdied the first two holes and is 11 over through eight.
Duval won at Royal Lytham & St. Annes 18 years ago but now spends more time as a golf commentator than he does playing professional events.
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11:40 a.m.
Rory McIlroy found the thick rough again at the British Open, this time on No. 5, but he managed to save par with a chip onto the green and a pair of putts for a 4.
McIlroy came into the tournament as one of favorites, partly because he set the course record at Royal Portrush when he was a 16-year-old amateur. But he took a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole and then another bogey on the third to put him at 5 over - nine strokes behind leaders Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry, Alex Noren and Webb Simpson.
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10:30 a.m.
Rory McIlroy went out of bounds on his first shot of the British Open, then left his ball unplayable in thick brush near the green and ended up with a quadruple-bogey 8.
The 2014 champion holds the course record at Royal Portrush, shooting a 61 when he was 16 in the North of Ireland Amateur.
McIlroy went out of bounds left in an internal area of the course off the tee. After hitting his provisional left again into the rough, his approach cleared a bunker but landed in a patch of thick grass and he was forced to drop. He chipped onto the green but missed a 6-foot putt.
Heading into this year’s tournament, the first in Northern Ireland since Royal Portrush hosted the event in 1951, McIlroy was considered to be a strong contender for a second British Open title.
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10:10 a.m.
Emiliano Grillo hit the first hole-in-one of this year’s British Open.
The 26-year-old Argentine put his shot on the green and it pitched left, rolled down the bank and dropped in the hole on No. 13.
Grillo then threw his ball into the crowd at Royal Portrush.
The hole-in-one put Grillo at even par. He also put up three birdies on the front nine, but a triple bogey on the fourth hole and pair of other bogeys had left him at 2 over.
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9 a.m.
Early sun, clouds, a few raindrops, wind, even a rainbow. Royal Portrush has it all, and the British Open is not even three hours old.
Darren Clarke, who hit the opening tee for the first Open in his native Northern Ireland since 1951, made the turn in a sporty 2-under 34. His only blunder was a shot off the hosel of his club on the par-5 seventh that squirted so far right he had to take an unplayable lie from thick grass. He escaped with a bogey.
Clarke is the only player to have reached 3 under at any point. Two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington was among those at 2 under on the front nine. Phil Mickelson was struggling. He was 1 over through four holes but has yet to have a serious look at birdie.
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7:45 a.m.
Darren Clarke considered the opening tee shot on home soil to be an honor.
That doesn’t mean it was ceremonial.
The 50-year-old Clarke, whose game was honed at Royal Portrush as a junior, birdied the opening hole to throaty applause. And then he birdied the par-3 third and the tough fifth that runs out toward the North Atlantic.
That put him at 3 under heading to the sixth hole.
With only a light breeze and a links slightly softened by rain, Royal Portrush was not at its toughest. But of the 18 players to have completed one hole, five were under par.
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7 a.m.
Darren Clarke never hit a tee shot at Royal Portrush quite like this.
The silver claret jug on display next to him, Clarke hit the opening tee shot Thursday as the British Open returned to Irish soil for the first time in 68 years. And then it got even better for Clarke, the 50-year-old from Northern Ireland who now calls Portrush home.
He holed a 15-foot putt for birdie to start his round.
Clarke won the Open in 2011 at Royal St. George’s and did not hesitate when the R&A asked if he would be willing to be the first to play. He hasn’t received such a hearty reception on the opening tee since The K Club in Ireland in 2006 for the Ryder Cup.
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