Open Championship 2017: Player reaction from day one at Royal Birkdale

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Jordan Spieth (65) (4/1 with Sky Bet)

"I thought today's round was extremely important, as they all are, but given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red (under par) today. Everything was strong. I give it a nine across the board for everything - tee balls, ball-striking, short game and putting. So things are in check. It's just about keeping it consistent.

"I'd call it a top five major round that I've played. There are scores that I've shot that were closer to par that were better given what I needed to do. But I couldn't have done much better today. I essentially missed two greens today in some 15mph winds."

Brooks Koepka (65) (8/1 with Sky Bet)

"It felt like I'd been playing well and links golf just takes a creative mind. Sometimes golf can get a bit boring but I see so many shots out here that are fun that it really gets me going."

Ian Poulter (67) (28/1 with Sky Bet)

"Last year I was commentating for the first two days, which was difficult. I think that's one of the most difficult things I've done.

"The other difficult thing I've done is obviously not playing Ryder Cup and being a vice-captain. The experience was amazing, but it was very, very hard. As someone that's played quite a few majors, now I chose not to watch a lot of the golf because it was too disappointing to watch TV.

"I tried to spend more time with the kids and enjoy that time rather than sit there and have disappointment on my face. It's too easy to get down when you're not playing those big tournaments.

"And it's easy to get down when golf seems to be pretty difficult. It makes it even more special to be back here today playing.

"I've definitely had some low spots in the last 18 months. And certainly 12 months (ago), I was getting very down. It's easy to be down when you feel you're a great player and all of a sudden you're hampered with a bit of injury. You're not getting the results you want. It's very easy to slide away.

"So I'm proud of the way I've been able to refocus, get things back on the straight and narrow, clear away some of the noise in the background and get back to really focusing hard on what I need to do to get the level of golf back that I think I can play.

"I'm definitely playing with a bit more confidence and that's definitely showed over the last couple of months," Poulter added. "The Players Championship was a big week for me. I think that was a huge turning point. I'm definitely a freer player on the golf course."

"I didn't think about 2008 (when he was second) until the putt on the last, to be honest. I splashed out of the bunker and the pin was kind of in that right-hand area. Missing the green to the right was similar to how it happened in '08.

''Birkdale nine years ago felt pretty good on Sunday afternoon and it felt just as good today. Players love playing here. They love playing in the Open and spectators respect that, as well. They really make you feel great out on the golf course, and I felt that today. They definitely gave me a little bit of a buzz."

Justin Thomas (67) (25/1 with Sky Bet)

"Obviously I knew it (his dress sense) was probably going to get a lot of publicity but I didn't come here to dress well, I came here to try to play some good golf.

"This is a golf shirt, so it's not like it's uncomfortable. It's not tight. It's not something I know I even have on comfort-wise. It's just something I wanted to do for this event."

"It was real steady. I stayed on the fairways, hit some good putts, had some good saves. There were some shots that could have gone better but I did get a couple of fortunate breaks.

"Overall I'm just pleased with how little stress it was for how hard it was."

Ernie Els (68) (150/1 with Sky Bet)

"I haven't played very well since Lytham, that's the bottom line. It's five years ago now and a lot of golf has been played in between but I started showing a round here and there at the Masters and US Open.

"I enjoy this course, it plays a little bit like Lytham: there are a lot of iron shots you have to play and keep it between the bunkers and I feel you get fairer bounces around here.

"You can be aggressive here and there and it was kind of soft, like Lytham was soft."

"I felt comfortable today and if I can keep feeling comfortable all week then in a perfect world I'd like to be in the final group on Sunday," he added.

"I've won it (The Open) so there is no major pressure on me like some of the other guys but I still want to have a good showing and if I'm there on Sunday I'd like to go for it. I feel healthy and I feel I can swing the club and coming to links courses I feel I can compete and in my mind it feels like I want to compete so that's a good thing.

"I've just got to pull the whole thing together."

Henrik Stenson (69) (33/1 with Sky Bet)

"I certainly could have made one or two more putts but I'll certainly take one under. It's a major championship and under par is never a bad score. I'm pleased with the first day.

"I think I could have been one or two shots better and finishing two or three under would have been, without feeling greedy, a pretty good reflection of how I played but sometimes you're one or two short on that end."

"It was certainly tough early this morning when we woke up and it didn't seem to be particularly nice if you arrived in the first couple of hours. We got a fairly good ride. It's windy, it's not easy out there, but it's still nice. This is the way you want it, it's enough to keep you honest.

"But I think we've got some wet stuff heading our way tomorrow and that combination of rain and wind is not always that pleasant to be out in. So we've got to keep our heads down tomorrow, I think."

Jon Rahm (69) (20/1 with Sky Bet)

On being penalised two shots on the 17th for moving a plant close to his ball before having the strokes restored after rules officials accepted his explanation that his lie was not improved: "I don't know what to call the plants - the one with the thorns in it, about three feet long - it was just right over my ball. I thought it was a loose impediment because it looked dead so I just moved it to the side. That is when Lee came. He realised it was not loose, it was still attached.

"We asked the rules official. He said improving my lie by moving an impediment that was not loose was a two-stroke penalty. That is what we agreed on. They said it was a two-stroke penalty and we were going to review the footage afterwards.

"Unfortunately for me I was the only one that saw it, there were no cameras to back me up. But it was never on my lie, never on my line, never on my swing path. It was not going to bother me any way. I explained my version of what happened. Basically after that they made the decision there was no stroke penalty.

"At the end of the day, it is not my call. It is up to them. They did say it was a very fine line but the decision is up to them. I would have been fine with whatever."

Jason Day (69) (33/1 with Sky Bet)

"I feel like I play better in worse weather. Saying that, I really don't want to walk around in the rain tomorrow in 35 miles-an-hour wind and the cold.

"But if I have to, I have to. That's just what you have to do to try to win the Open Championship."

Rory McIlroy (71) (25/1 with Sky Bet)

"It was on the sixth tee. JP (his caddie) gave me a good talking to and sort of reminded me of who I was. He said 'You're Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?'

"Thankfully he's not had to do it too often and he's never afraid to do that and I feel today it helped a lot more than at other times because I needed something. That helped and that got me back in a positive frame of mind. At that point I mumbled and said 'Whatever' but it definitely helped.

"I'm an early riser so I followed the guys going off really early and the first hole looked like to be playing about a par six. I thought that would have an effect on me," he added.

"I was nervous going out, a little anxious, timid, just (did) not really (have) as much belief in myself as I should have had. (It was) just a bit of lack of confidence over the last couple of weeks and letting that get in my head.

"I was thinking 'Jeez, here we go again', but I just needed to stay patient."

"I could be standing here having hit 18 greens and shot one-over and missed every putt and feel terrible. But because of the way I started I actually feel really positive. It's a bit like Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012.

"We're 10-6 down on Saturday night but we feel like we were right in with a chance because we won the last two points. Even though there's a lot of golf left in other circumstances it might have been a disappointing day but just with the way I finished, I feel really good about it.

"I still feel I'm in the golf tournament. If I can go out and play a good quality round of golf in the morning and try to get in the clubhouse somewhere around even par, under par, I'll still be around for the weekend."

Padraig Harrington (73)

"Conditions were tough but they'd set the pins appropriately - it just wasn't a good scoring day for me. I was disappointed early in the round not to make more of it.

"I'll be trying my hardest (on Friday) regardless. The key is hopefully I get a bit of momentum in the round but it's not like you can go out and force it."

"I enjoyed walking down 17 and 18 so there was a little bit of sentiment in it. They can't take it away from me. I hit four-wood off the 17th tee, hit the left rough, a great lob wedge out of it and a beautiful pitching wedge straight down the pin which I thought was stone dead. It came up 15 feet short and I left the putt short.

"I'm glad I played it the way I did in 2008."

Mark O'Meara (81)

"I just got off to such a poor start and my hand slipped off the club. When you're nine over par through seven holes it's very disappointing, but it's not the end of the world. I realise kind of where I'm at in my life. But you still play for your pride and certainly I'm disappointed that I didn't do better.

"For the R&A to give me that privilege of the first tee shot shows the respect they have for their Open champions, the respect to know that this was going to be my last Open Championship.

"I would have thought I would've been more nervous, but I was not pleased when I hit that shot. I don't think anybody would be. My name is on my golf bag, I've won the Open Championship, I'm in the Hall of Fame.

"When you hit one straight right off the first tee out of bounds, it would be like standing on the first tee on the Ballybunion and hitting the graveyard (which is 40 yards away). My day was toast after that first tee shot. But I still had to play.

"At one point I felt like I was going to shoot 90 out there. I shot 81, so be it. It's not like I haven't shot 81 in my life."