ALL EYES WERE on Tiger Woods in the late pairings at the Open Championship, but it was the early round of 66 by his compatriot Kevin Kisner which earned the lead at the end of day one.
Kisner recovered from a bogey on the fifth with an immediate eagle, and never returned from red figures, reaching -5 and the top of the leaderboard thanks to back-to-back-to-back birdies through 13, 14 and 15.
Pre-tournament favourite Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, carded a +5 round of 76.
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Kisner plays out of trouble on the 17th. Alastair Grant
Alastair Grant
On a difficult day for Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy leads the Irish charge on -2, though Erik van Rooyen, Zander Lombard (South Africa) and American Tony Finau ran Kisner closest for the overnight lead and they’ll start day two with a healthy -4 to their name.
Tiger Woods’ front nine showing made it look like he was set to trouble the leaders as he was -2 through the first four holes. However, he bogeyed the 10th and although the 42-year-old pulled the shot back immediately, further bogeys came on 13 and 15 to leave him on level par alongside Paul Dunne.
Outside of the leaders, the round of Brooks Koepka is well worth noting. The American scorched through the back nine with five birdies.
An excellent run, but it brought him only to a round of 72, +1, after a horrendous run of double-bogey, par, bogey, double-bogey, bogey (6-5-5-5-5) to end the front nine.
The second double bogey in that run arrived thanks to this nightmarish bunker encounter where the back-to-back US Open Champion proved: it happens to the best of ‘em.
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Kisner leads scorched Open Championship after day of mixed fortunes for Irish contingent
ALL EYES WERE on Tiger Woods in the late pairings at the Open Championship, but it was the early round of 66 by his compatriot Kevin Kisner which earned the lead at the end of day one.
Kisner recovered from a bogey on the fifth with an immediate eagle, and never returned from red figures, reaching -5 and the top of the leaderboard thanks to back-to-back-to-back birdies through 13, 14 and 15.
Pre-tournament favourite Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, carded a +5 round of 76.
On a difficult day for Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy leads the Irish charge on -2, though Erik van Rooyen, Zander Lombard (South Africa) and American Tony Finau ran Kisner closest for the overnight lead and they’ll start day two with a healthy -4 to their name.
Can’t see the video? Watch on Twitter here
Tiger Woods’ front nine showing made it look like he was set to trouble the leaders as he was -2 through the first four holes. However, he bogeyed the 10th and although the 42-year-old pulled the shot back immediately, further bogeys came on 13 and 15 to leave him on level par alongside Paul Dunne.
Outside of the leaders, the round of Brooks Koepka is well worth noting. The American scorched through the back nine with five birdies.
An excellent run, but it brought him only to a round of 72, +1, after a horrendous run of double-bogey, par, bogey, double-bogey, bogey (6-5-5-5-5) to end the front nine.
The second double bogey in that run arrived thanks to this nightmarish bunker encounter where the back-to-back US Open Champion proved: it happens to the best of ‘em.
Can’t see the video below? Watch on Twitter here
See the full leaderboard here
McIlroy two-under and in contention at The Open despite persistent putting problem
Steady start for Dunne in first round of The Open, Lowry +3 and 2011 champion Clarke struggles
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Carnoustie Open Championship The Open