Horror first round has Smith one and done at Open as Scott, Lee thrive

Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee have risen before first light to illuminate Australia’s British Open chances but Cam Smith’s hopes of reclaiming his 2022 title were plunged into darkness after a horror opening round at Royal Troon.

Scott and Lee might not have been too thrilled to trudge out of bed in the dead of night to prepare for yawningly early tee times on Thursday, but both made the best of damp, squally conditions that only really improved late in the day as Irishman Shane Lowry grabbed the outright lead with a five-under 66. Lowry would be bettered only by 29-year-old Englishman Daniel Brown, who carded an opening 65.

Scott, who began with splashing in a birdie straight from the bunker at 7.40am local time, shot a one-under 70, just a stroke better than Lee, who recorded three birdies in his last four holes to get to level par, both right in the thick of the battle.

They both enjoyed their early lunches but, in the afternoon, Smith, spearhead of the six-strong Australian contingent just two years since his St Andrews triumph, had an inexplicably indigestible day, with a nine-over round of 80 triggered by a triple-bogey seven on the second.

Lee was the first Aussie out at 7.19am, which meant the Perth ace was up at 4am to prepare after a restless night. An unsurprisingly sluggish start followed as the 25-year-old bogeyed two of the first three holes, suffered a double bogey after driving out of bounds at the 11th ‘Railway’ hole, but finished like a champ, with birdies from 14ft at 15, 8ft at 16, and 10ft at the last.

In the group behind, Scott, two days after his 44th birthday, opened his 24th successive Open bid with his spectacular splash-in, feeling it was the launchpad for a “very solid” round which persuades the 2013 Masters winner he could again contend for the Claret Jug after three previous top-five finishes.

Cameron Smith said if you told him he’d shoot 80 in his opening round, he would have called it impossible.Credit: Getty Images

Runner-up at last week’s Scottish Open, Scott enthused: “My game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like I’m controlling the ball well.”

Of his early start, Lee explained: “I was up at four. I went to sleep, well I tried to sleep at 8 last night, went to bed early at 8:30, but I can’t complain. I wasn’t even the first group! A couple of years ago, I was in the first group at St Andrews, and that was like a three o’clock wake-up,” he recalled, adding with a laugh: “I don’t know - it feels as if it should be illegal!

“But it’s The Open. It’s supposed to be difficult, but I had a good finish - so lunch will taste a little bit better.”

For Smith, though, the chances of a second Claret Jug are over. Nothing went right from the start as the Queenslander found thick rough with his opening drive that led to a bogey, then ended up with a seven at the second after driving out of bounds.

Completely out of sorts playing alongside Lowry, the 30-year-old, coming off three top-10 finishes in his last four LIV events, recorded nine bogeys alongside his triple, but at least showed champion’s spirit by birdieing two of the final three holes.

“Just a bad day, really. I mean, if you had have told me yesterday that I was going to shoot that, I wouldn’t have said that was possible,” shrugged Smith, whose 80 matched that of Australia’s amateur debutant Jasper Stubbs, who qualified by winning the Asia-Pacific Championship at Royal Melbourne near his home.

Jason Day, the top-ranked Aussie who finished runner-up last year, ended with a 73 which he called “a decent start”, adding: “I’ve just got to kind of clean up the mistakes a little bit and get myself back in the tournament.”

Elvis Smylie, the 22-year-old son of former Aussie tennis star Liz Smylie, launched his major debut with a five-over 76.

AAP

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