Shane Lowry's hilarious take on boozy Open crowd after superb first round

Shane Lowry is keeping his celebrations on hold , despite the excitement of the beer-loving crowd at Royal Troon .

He's now allowing himself to dream about lifting the Claret Jug once more on Sunday after carding his lowest opening round in a Major. The Irish golfer confessed his eagerness to clinch another Open victory following his impeccable five-under 66, leaving him just one stroke behind England's Dan Brown on the leaderboard yesterday evening.

Lowry, 37, triumphed at Royal Portrush back in 2019 and finds himself in the mix again five years on. Yet, he's tempering expectations, even though he acknowledged the festive mood among the spectators as he made hay of the calmer winds and a more forgiving back nine later in the day. "I'm pretty happy," Lowry remarked. "But it's only one day.

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"We've got three more days. I kept telling myself that out there because for some reason I felt like the crowd were getting very excited out there. It was late in the afternoon. A few pints of Tennent's were had out there, I'd say.

"They were quite excitable out there, and it felt more like the weekend. I just kept on telling myself there's a lot more to do and there's a few days left, so I just kind of stayed in my lane and hit some good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I handled myself."

Lowry finished with a birdie on 18, his fifth of the day. "The walk down 18 was actually pretty cool," he added. "I said to (Matt Fitzpatrick’s caddie) Billy Foster, we walked down beside each other, that it's the greatest walk in golf, and I got to do it on a Sunday afternoon with a full house, and that's the plan, to try to get to do that again.

"I'd give anything to give myself a chance to win this tournament again, and that's why I'm here this week. This is obviously a great start to do that."

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Justin Thomas emerged as an early clubhouse leader with a 68, reflecting a significant improvement from last year's opening day 82 at Hoylake.

He said: "I couldn't even tell you what I was thinking or how it was then. I'm just worried about how I am now, and I'm very pleased with my game and know things are continuing to work in the right direction. I've just got to keep trying to play well."

English delivery driver Joe Dean finished four strokes behind Brown, tied for fourth place with Americans Xander Schauffele and Russell Henley. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, along with Chris Kirk, trails by one, while Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth ended the day at even par, despite an eagle on the 16th. England's own Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick are tied in 11th place, sitting one under.