British Open Round 1 Winners and Losers: Shane Lowry Shines, Rory McIlroy Falters at Royal Troon

The opening round at Royal Troon was a good one for Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and ... the Da Vinci Code? Plus, Rory McIlroy lands among the disappointments.

Shane Lowry shot a bogey-free 66 on Thursday at Royal Troon. / Jack Gruber/USA TODAY Sports

Day 1 of the 2024 British Open featured classic, cold Scottish weather and rounds of golf that were both spectacular and spectacularly disappointing. We call ’em like we see ’em around here. They are:

Winners

Shane Lowry: On a tough day for scoring, the 2019 Open champion rang up five birdies during a bogey-free 66 to plant his name on the yellow leaderboards. The 37-year-old earned a win earlier this year while playing alongside his buddy Rory McIlroy—more on him shortly—in the Zurich Classic team event. A win this week while flying solo would elevate his career to a new stratosphere.

Justin Thomas: It hasn’t exactly been a banner year for the 15-time Tour winner and two-time major champion, but he started fast on a gray morning at Troon, ringing up seven birdies, including back-to-back birdies to close his round, to sign for a three-under 68. Thomas is winless since claiming the 2022 PGA Championship and hasn’t really threatened to win anywhere along the way. He missed the cut at this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, but clocked a T8 at the PGA Championship in his hometown Louisville. There’s a long way to go, but this was a nice start.

The Da Vinci Code: We’re guessing sales for the best-selling tome may have spiked on Thursday, as the name Dan Brown is shared by the book’s author and the 29-year-old, 272nd-ranked golfer in the world, who birdied 18 for a 65 that swiped the solo lead away from Lowry. The Englishman has one win on the DP World Tour and hasn't made a cut in more than a month, but on this day it all clicked. He has 54 holes left to write his own story.

Brooks Koepka: Aren’t the majors more fun when the big-game hunter is prowling? The five-time major champ hasn’t been much of a factor this year but opened at Troon with a 1-under 71 that included five birdies (only JT had more) including four in a row on the front side. 

Royal Troon: The venerable course surrendered a 20-under-par winning score during its last Open in 2016, but on Thursday the weather was dreary, the wind was tricky and the old brute was back, headlined by the little par-3 postage stamp that inflicted all kinds of chaos. It was a fun day and great to see a classic track providing a robust test.

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Losers

Rory McIlroy: The world No. 2 got back on the horse last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, meeting the media to explain the U.S. Open collapse and then finishing T4, which had everyone thinking he’d be ready to go for Royal Troon. Everyone thought wrong. His 78 came in tough conditions but that’s Open golf, and he admitted that he didn’t adapt. His major drought will roll into 2025. 

Bryson DeChambeau: He opened with a front-nine 42 to just about end his tournament right there, but a back-nine rally could only salvage a 76 that will leave him battling to make the cut on Friday. It was a dismal start considering DeChambeau appeared to be riding high and in top form off his U.S. Open victory.

Cameron Smith: The 150th Open champion shot 80 to open the 152nd, ranking second-to-last in the field in strokes-gained off the tee. There’s only so much that short-game wizardry can save when you were driving it where he was Thursday. 

Wyndham Clark: The 2023 U.S. Open champion has had a very good regular season on the PGA Tour and came to Troon off a T10 at the Scottish, but his major season has been poor: missed cuts at the Masters and PGA, a T56 in his U.S. Open defense and likely another MC at the British after a first-round 78. What kind of form will he have at the Paris Olympics?