5 Players Who Had Disastrous Opening Rounds at The Open

The 152nd Open Championship got off to a raucous start on Thursday in Scotland, as swirling coastal winds and brisk temperatures caused the top players in the world to look like amateurs. Bogeys were made by the plenty, as Royal Troon showed its teeth from start to finish. A magnificent day for fans of links-style golf.

When it was all said and done, a mere 17 players from the 156-man field finished the opening round under par. Only three players bested 2-under 69 for the day, while 19 players shot 79 or worse. The 74.44 scoring average Royal Troon played to on Thursday was 2.1 strokes higher than the first round last time here in 2016.

While the likes of Daniel Brown (-6), Shane Lowry (-5), Justin Thomas (-3), Xander Schauffele (-2), Brooks Koepka (-1), and Scottie Scheffler (-1) carved out solid starts in the miserable conditions, countless high-end players weren't nearly as successful.

Here are five players who got off to horrendous starts on Thursday at Royal Troon.

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy, the 2014 Open Champion, entered the tournament behind only World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the betting market. The four-time major winner has been playing spectacularly despite his late blunder at the U.S. Open, with two victories and three additional top-fives in his past seven starts.

However, McIlroy's impeccable recent form was nowhere to be seen on Thursday, as he carded just one birdie en route to shooting 7-over 78. That's McIlroy's highest score in a major championship since the first round of the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, while his lone birdie is the fewest he's tallied in an Open round since 2012.

The World No. 2 trails the leader Brown by a whopping 13 strokes with three days remaining, and no player in the past century has shot 78 or higher in the opening round and gone on to win The Open. As it stands, McIlroy appears destined to have gone a full decade without winning another major championship. His 21 top-10s in majors since the start of 2015 are the most by any player without a win in a 10-year stretch in golf history.

Tiger Woods

Unlike McIlroy, 'Big Cat' traveled across the Atlantic without any external expectations or pressure to contend for the Claret Jug. But that didn't stop the 15-time major champion from playing more lackluster golf on Thursday, as Woods topped just 12 players after 18 holes at Royal Troon.

Woods' tournament got off to a promising start, as he made birdie at the short par-4 3rd hole to quickly jump into red figures. That wouldn't last long, however, as the three-time Open winner made a bogey at the 4th, 7th, and 8th holes, while also recording a double-bogey at the par-3 5th.

The back nine didn't get much better for Woods, as he tallied three more bogeys and an additional double-bogey to finish the round at 8-over 79. On the bright side, he did card a second birdie at the par-4 13th and made a few clutch par saves to avoid a complete unraveling.

Since his return to professional golf earlier this year, Woods has missed the cut at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open while finishing 60th at the Masters. He hasn't finished inside the top 20 of a major championship since winning his 15th major at Augusta National in 2019.

Related: Tiger Woods Speaks, Addresses Colin Montgomerie Comments in Most Tiger Way Possible

Bryson DeChambeau

The reigning and two-time U.S. Open champion was among the favorites to take home the title this week and for good reason. DeChambeau not only won at Pinehurst one month ago, but he finished runner-up at the PGA Championship and was firmly in the mix going into the weekend at the Masters. But despite contending at all three previous major championships in 2024, DeChambeau's focus now shifts towards making the cut instead of contending.

Bryson couldn't have gotten off to a worse start, as he three-putted at the 1st and 3rd holes to quickly move to 2-over. Following another bogey at the 4th and a double-bogey at the 6th, he found himself sitting near the bottom of the leaderboard at 5-over. Life comes at ya fast.

DeChambeau made two more bogeys before finally showing signs of life at the par-5 16th hole, where he reached the green in two shots and rolled in the eagle putt to grab two strokes back. The YouTube superstar finished the day at 5-over 76, which honestly feels like a minor victory considering how poorly his front nine went.

Cameron Smith

The 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year hasn't been in the midst of many major championship battles since jumping ship to join LIV Golf, but many folks thought this would be the spot for the Aussie to shine and get back on track. Well, so much for that.

Smith's opening round went off the rails right from the get-go, as he carded a bogey at the 1st hole and followed that up with a double-bogey at the 2nd. Despite finding birdies at the 4th, 16th, and 18th holes, Smith still recorded nine bogeys and one double-bogey for the day.

In total, Smith bested a mere five players through 18 holes, with three being John Daly, Ernie Els, and Todd Hamilton. His 9-over 80 puts him T145 on the leaderboard.

Wyndham Clark

Clark's 2024 campaign has been filled with ups and downs, but he's shown an ability to compete against the best in the world on numerous occasions at this point. The 2023 U.S. Open winner went toe-to-toe with Scheffler at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and PLAYERS Championship earlier this season while also winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am -- a Signature Event on the PGA Tour. There's no debating whether Wyndham has the stones to win a second major championship.

Unfortunately for Clark, it doesn't appear like he's going to be contending for another major until the calendar shifts to 2025. Three double-bogeys in the first round at Royal Troon put him behind the eight ball, and he was only able to tally two birdies along the way.

Clark sits at 7-over after Day 1 in Scotland, tied with McIlroy for 129th.

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