The Open: Five talking points after the opening round at Carnoustie

By Dave Tindall

McIlroy poised but has hurdles to climb

Rory McIlroy’s first-round scores when he won his four majors: 65-67-66-66. Rory’s opening rounds when he finished T4 and T5 in the last two Opens: 71 and 69. Rory’s starter when he finished T5 at this year’s Masters: 69. Today’s round: 69.

As well as the numbers, Thursday's opening lap from McIlroy seemed to be hinting more at a top five than a win to me. Sure, there was good stuff but he hit just four of the 15 fairways and took 31 putts. Those two numbers aren’t really sustainable if he wants to win.

There’s also the weather. There’s rain forecast during the morning when Rory goes out in round two while, if he’s still right up there, the weather prediction for Sunday afternoon is 16mph and gusting into the high 20s. Not exactly Rory conditions you might say.

Still, he’s in the dozen after day one and that’s where every Open winner has been at this stage since Padraig Harrington landed his second Claret Jug at Birkdale in 2008.

Sky Bet Price Boost: Rahm or McIlroy to win now 11/2

Leaky defence

Jordan Spieth came into last year's Open on the back of a win at the Travelers Championship on his previous start. It stood him in good stead at Royal Birkdale as, with the winning habit ingrained, Spieth produced a glorious finish to lift the Claret Jug.

Ahead of this year’s Open, the American hadn’t posted as much as a top 20 in his previous seven events. Doubts were circling him. His putting stats in particular were huge cause for concern, but truth be told there was more to the problem. The game's best scorer had forgotten how to score.

For the first 11 holes today, Spieth was on track to match last year’s opening 65 as he cruised to three-under but then came what he called a “brain fart” on 15. The result – a double bogey. Further dropped shots on 16 and 18 turned a potentially excellent day into a disappointing one.

I had a wander outside after everyone had teed off and there were just two players on the putting green – Scott Jamieson and Spieth. For what it’s worth, the defending champ, helped by a putting aid, holed a string of five footers. Didn’t’ miss one.

Can he win from here? Never say never but it hardly bodes well that Spieth, now 33/1, has never managed a top 10 in a major after shooting over par in round one.

Numbers game

We all like a stat and the most eye-catching today was that leader Kevin Kisner needed just 22 putts. That was three fewer than Marc Leishman in second. Tied third was Scott Jamieson (27) so what was he doing on the putting green?!

Longest drive? A 407-yarder from Hideki Matsuyama on the 10th. Most accurate off the tee? Erik Van Rooyen hit 13 of the 15 fairways to pave the way for his 67 (T2) while Patrick Cantlay, Paul Casey, Dylan Frittelli, Jon Rahm and Danny Willett all hit 15 greens in regulation.

Best scramblers? Kisner and Bryson DeChambeau got up and down eight times out of eight while Kevin Na was bunker king (4-for-4). Oh, a final one. There’s no one in the world’s top 30 inside the top seven. Surely that has to change.

Van's the man

One of the French journalists here is a good friend and when I went to say hello at lunchtime he was deep in conversation with Jean Van de Velde.

The 1999 Open at Carnoustie, of course, will forever be remembered as the one that Van de Velde blew. We all know the famous footage of him rolling his trouser legs up and, shoes and shocks removed, standing in the Barry Burn.

But I was always under the impression that he teed off at the 18th hole that fateful day with a three-shot lead. Not so. There is a subtle alteration to the story. When he hit his drive, Van de Velde was only two in front. His lead only became three when Justin Leonard, up ahead at the green, made bogey. Would Van de Velde have played it differently if he’d known? We’ll never know.

What we do know is what a thoroughly nice guy he is. Some would wilt at being forever associated with one of the great sporting disasters but Van de Velde is happy to embrace his infamous moment in the spotlight. It’s a game. He won’t be defined by what wasn’t to be. He cuts an elegant and cheerful figure in the press tent here. Je ne regrette rien.

Carnoustie’s cult figure

If you base your in-play betting decisions on enthusiasm of player quotes, then 100/1 shot Pat Perez has to be worth a punt after today’s 69.

Perez is not your average tour pro. He likes The Cult and Oasis, sports a mullet as a fashion statement and once did something very bad on the 18th tee at Pebble Beach. He also travels well, his last two wins on the PGA Tour coming in Mexico and Malaysia.

This is just his second Open since 2008 but he said after today’s two-under lap of Carnoustie: "I think it's fantastic how the setup is. It's great. I wish a lot more courses were like this.

"For once in a major, it doesn't favour the long hitter because everybody kind of hit it down where they could get it. I think it's awesome. I don't know. It's awesome."

Perez’s best performance in his four Opens came when T20 back in… 2007. Here at Carnoustie. If the American does go on to land some each-way cash, you can’t say he didn’t warn us.

Related links

• Sky Bet's latest Open prices