2024 Open Championship takeaways: Justin Thomas stuns with hot start, Scottie Scheffler lurks after Round 1

Justin Thomas is not someone who was anticipated to be near the top of the leaderboard across back to back weeks in Scotland. While obviously a tremendous golfer, his record overall at The Open Championship is sketchy, and he's put together an uneven season to this point. But after serving as the 18-hole leader last week at the Scottish Open, Thomas -- who held the lead out of the morning wave Thursday at Royal Troon -- sits just three shots back of leader Daniel Brown (-6).

Playing in the slightly more difficult morning wave, J.T. made seven birdies in his round. While his driving got a bit loose at times -- specifically early in his back nine -- his tee to green play overall was terrific, just as it was last week in Round 1 at The Renaissance Club.

Thomas is somebody whose Open record is not as good as it likely should be. In seven starts, he has just one top 30 finish to go with three missed cuts. He opened last year's Open with an 82 in the first round. These numbers are especially curious when considering Thomas' game, which is creative and built for the wind and the elements.

That shined Thursday in a way it has not in past years at this event.

"I felt like I had great control off the tee," he said. "I hit some great drives, and I felt like I was creative on some of them of just trying to hold it against the winds, off the tees to make the fairways a little bigger and hold it in the fairways. Felt like I had a couple times that I could have maybe been a little bit more aggressive, but I just felt like it wasn't the right time or necessarily didn't need to."

That mindset also represents a maturity J.T. admitted to not always having when it comes to this tournament.

"I think that's parts of links golf and also just of golf in general that I've gotten better at and matured," he added. "I feel better about this round than I did the one last week [when I led the Scottish Open] just in the sense of, I would say, the quality of play."

Whether Thomas can take advantage of a great first round this week (unlike last week when he tumbled to a T62 finish) remains to be seen. He'll have to continue to putt decently -- perhaps not as well as his 3 strokes gained putting Thursday -- but given the trouble lurking off the tee at Royal Troon and how wild Thomas can sometimes be, the putter will have to save some strokes if he wants to truly contend this weekend.

There is a long way to go, and it's been a few years since Thomas put together four great rounds consecutively at a big event. But Thursday's opening effort continues a small but meaningful trend of good play early in tournaments.

And wouldn't it be very golf if the two guys who beat everyone in the world at the U.S. Open a month ago (Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy) struggled to make the cut while the guy who shot a million (or 82) a year ago at this tournament went on to win the Claret Jug.

The favorite is lurking

If I'm J.T. or Shane Lowry or anyone holding the top handful of spots on the leaderboard, I'm quite concerned about Scottie Scheffler. Not because he's the No. 1 player in the world or the first golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win six times this quickly in a season but because he had a terrifyingly good Round 1 in which he was one of just 17 golfers under par only needing to make three putts outside of 5 feet.

"It's definitely frustrating when you're watching it 3 feet out and you think it's going to go in and it just doesn't," Scheffler said. At the end of the day, I pride myself on preparation and showing up ready to go. If I hit a really good putt from 15, 20 feet -- greens aren't perfect. It's not a perfect surface. You get wind and all kinds of stuff, and I'm lipping out. It's almost like you're just playing a numbers game. If I continue to hit really good putts, then eventually they will start falling in.

"That's kind of how I felt today. I don't really feel like I made many putts, but I felt like I hit a lot of quality putts, which for me is really good."

In other words: Scottie flushed it Thursday and barely got anything out of the round. His work off the tee was exquisite, holding balls against the wind and controlling everything quite well. His approach play was his usual Scottie Scheffler self. There's a 65 sitting in there if he continues to hit it like this, and I'm not sure this field or this tournament is built to withstand Scottie galloping from out in front with a 65 on his card.

Be prepared; it's coming.

Wind golf

It's just so different. You have to hit it so well and make such great decisions throughout the entire round.

"We had it close to this yesterday," Jordan Spieth explained. "We didn't have much wind the other days, so certainly, I think when you start hitting certain shots off the tee, they just -- like that front nine, all of us were short on everything as everybody was all day. And I think that was not quite being used to, so hopefully make the adjustment for tomorrow."

This was obvious all day but especially in the early wave. Sepp Straka, who shot a 1-under 70 a bit later on, summed it up well: "You kind of have your mindset that's where it's going to be, and that's kind of part of the tournament. It almost makes it more fun when the conditions are like that, obviously when you're playing well. If you're not playing well, it just makes it annoying. You just got to focus on your shot. It does make it a little bit harder to do that. It's a little easier to kind of get in a funk out there when it's raining and kind of chilly."

It's the one variable in the game that players hate the most, but it also produces the most interesting shots and most thoughtful course management. After a few years of no wind at all, it was refreshing to see it howl a bit on Thursday to start the tournament.

Staying within five

The last 24 Open winners have been within five strokes of the lead after 18 holes, according to Justin Ray. That means one of the following golfers will win this year's Open

• Daniel Brown: -6
• Shane Lowry: -5
• Justin Thomas: -3
• Alex Noren, Nicolai Hojgaard, Justin Rose, Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele, Mackenzie Hughes, Joe Dean: -2
• Adam Scott, Matt Wallace, Chris Kirk, Sepp Straka, Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler: -1

Obviously, there are some fascinating names in that group, including Koepka, who is going for his sixth major. Schauffele is seeking his second in the last three attempts.

There have been 10 first-time Champion Golfers of the Year starting with Phil Mickelson in 2013 through to Brian Harman in 2023. The all-time record stands at 11 from 1994 to 2004.

Zurich Classic flip

Did you think, after watching the Zurich Classic, that there would be a 12-stroke difference between the two guys who won the tournament? I did ... just not in this direction with Lowry at 5 under and Rory McIlroy at 7 over. Truly shocking stuff given how both of them were playing in New Orleans not that long ago.

Postage Stamp fun

The shortest hole at Royal Troon is also the best hole on the course. The 120-yard par-3 8th hole -- nicknamed the Postage Stamp -- was amazing Thursday, and it is emblematic of what I believe is one of the best parts of the Open. There are easy doubles and triples lurking everywhere.

Rory McIlroy missed his spot by a couple of feet the 8th hole and made a 5, which led to a 78 for the round. That doesn't happen at most other events (even at major championships).

"I completely agree [that short par 3s are the best]," said Thomas, who made a birdie on the 8th with a nifty spinner. "I would double down by saying all the worst par-3s in the world are the long ones. I've never played a bad one that's 120 yards. The 8th hole here is a great example of that, especially given certain winds. You're very happy to walk off with a 3. It was nice to make a 2 today."

The Open rules

The Open can be so unhinged. Dan Brown, who has missed six of his last seven cuts and finished 61st at the Scottish Open last week, beat McIlroy, who has finished in the top five across five of his last seven events (including a T4 at the Scottish Open), by 13 shots. Thirteen!

Brooks Koepka summed this up nicely: "Look, there's a lot of good players, and when they play well, you can control your ball. Links golf, if you're creative enough, you can find different ways to get it near the hole."

But Adam Scott offered this warning: "It's sometimes easy to scrap it around the links, but you're not going to hole a lot of 40-footers. So, at some point, you're going to need to hit some really quality iron shots from the fairway to get it in close to some tucked pins and give yourself more realistic chances. They're the guys who are going to be up there at the end of the week."

For 18 holes, anybody can get in the mix. Even Daniel Brown, who has one win as a professional ... ever. That's enough to dream on, even if the likelihood of holding off Scheffler and Co. for 54 more is not realistic. Sometimes, though, you just need a sliver of hope. Still, it will be hitters only come Saturday and Sunday.