Lee and Herbert head Australasians after day one at Royal Liverpool
Tommy Fleetwood – one of three leaders image R&A / Getty Images
Min Woo Lee and Lucas Herbert head the large Australasian contingent after day one of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, their rounds of even par 71 leaving the pair five shots from the lead and tied for 32nd.
Overhead conditions were very good for the opening round but the demands of the Royal Liverpool layout would mean good scoring was a significant challenge and while even par might not have been the round they were hoping for at various stages of their rounds, they are not far from where they need to be.
Herbert was out early in the third group of that day and with an outward nine of 33 he was vying for the lead. He would bogey the 10th but the par 5 15th would offer a great opportunity for one of his power and he took full advantage by holing a 28 footer for eagle and at that point had a share of the lead.
Ahead lay the relatively untested par 3 17th which has been introduced for this championship and as was the case for many others, the 136 yard proved more than a handful.
Missing the green left Herbert pitched back over the green into a bunker, and took two to get out, the resulting triple bogey leaving him back at even par and when he found the fairway bunker at the last his chances of pulling one of those shots back at the par 5 were gone.
“Took some good shots to get in the right position to be give myself the chance to be 3-under through 16,” said Herbert. “So I’m not mad about it at all. Obviously would have loved to change 17, but I felt like I maybe hit a poor chip shot and that’s about it.
“I could have told you there would be carnage. I could have predicted it for you. I think it’s a great hole. There’s no wind. It’s a gap wedge and you can make a two pretty easily, but that wind gets going and like I said you can’t really feel it too much on the tee. It becomes a really tricky shot.
“It’s pretty fun. I would have loved to have made 3 on 17 and 4 on 18 and we’re sitting here laughing at 4-under, but the reality is I didn’t.”
As opposed to Herbert, Lee’s strong finish late in the day certainly helped his cause.
The West Australian double bogeyed the 3rd and was still 2 over with four to play but birdies at the 15th and 18th turned his day around and at even par he is well enough placed.
“Just had a blur on the third hole,” said Lee. “Hit it straight out of bounds from the left rough, and it was a really good fight back from there.
“I didn’t think I had it all throughout the whole round, but just made my pars and just moved on and made my birdies when I needed to. Yeah, really happy with the way I finished because the wind was still up there.”
Jason Day, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith all finished at 1 over 72 and for the defending champion, Smith, his closing nine after being 2 under at the turn was a source of frustration but he knows he has not shot himself in the foot.
“There was lots of good today for myself, but probably just as much or even more bad. Nothing really to work on, to be honest. It still feels really good.
“It’s just there’s a couple of awkward shots out there for me with that wind off the left, trying to play a cut off the tee. There’s a couple holes where it feels like you can’t hit the fairway, and it’s just awkward. It’s something I’m going to have to put up with, I think.
“I don’t think it’s going to be quite as much of a birdie fest as last year, which is probably a good thing for me and the other guys that are just absolutely over par. Just a couple of good rounds should be right back in it. I don’t feel like I’m out of the tournament.”
Day and Scott were also under par for much of their rounds but slow finishes cost them, more especially Scott who double bogeyed the last.
But the leaders are an interesting mix.
Tommy Fleetwood entered the week as one of the favourites but his closing nine of 4 under par 32 gives hope to the, very much, in form Englishman winning a first major title.
Fleetwood shares the lead with South Africa’s current British Amateur Champion Christo Lamprecht and Argentinean Emiliano Grillo, Grillo’s round of 66 made even more impressive by the fact he bogeyed two of his first three holes before a closing nine of 31.
