Golf
British Open 2024 recap: Daniel Brown takes lead from Shane Lowry at Royal Troon
Rory McIlroy says he’s ‘getting closer’ to ending his golf drought
Rory McIlroy talks to the media ahead of the start of the British Open and says he’s getting closer to another title.
Europeans sit at the top of the 2024 British Open.
English golfer Daniel Brown, 29, made a stunning run to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday at Royal Troon Golf Club, leading Irishman Shane Lowry by a single stroke heading into Round 2.
To say Brown hasn’t had recent success heading into the Open would be an understatement. He finished 61st at his most recent tournament, the Genesis Scottish Open, and before that, missed the cut or withdrew in six of his last seven tournaments.
“I know if I play well, I can compete with most, so hopefully it carries on throughout the week,” Brown said after his round.
It was also an encouraging start for Justin Thomas (-3), who’s looking for his first major victory since 2022.
Further down the leaderboard, it was a first round to forget for some of golf’s most notable names: Tiger Woods (+8), Rory McIlroy (+7) and Bryson DeChambeau (+5) all struggled on the links.
USA TODAY Sports covered all things Open Championship, including highlights, leaderboard updates and more below.
BRITISH OPEN LEADERBOARD: Live scores from Royal Troon
Last updated at 4:40 p.m. ET
1. Daniel Brown, -6 (65)
2. Shane Lowry, -5 (66)
3. Justin Thomas, -3 (68)
T4. Alex Noren, -2 (69)
T4. Nicolai Hojgaard, -2 (69)
T4. Justin Rose, -2 (69)
T4. Russell Henley, -2 (69)
T4. Xander Schauffele, -2 (69)
T4. Mackenzie Hughes, -2 (69)
T4. Joe Dean, -2 (69)
T11. Adam Scott, -1 (70)
Six others tied at -1
Daniel Brown may have cracked the code of Royal Troon.
The English golfer sank a birdie putt on No. 18 to snag the outright lead from Shane Lowry at the 2024 Open Championship, dropping to 6-under (65) in the first round.
Brown is angling for a storybook ending to the Open, though there are three rounds to go: He has a single win on the DP World Tour, which came in 2019 at the ISPS Handa World Invitational.
What a turnaround it’s been for golfer Daniel Brown.
Through 16 holes, the 29-year-old golfer is a co-leader at the 2024 Open Championship after sinking a birdie putt on No. 15, gaining a stroke to tie Shane Lowry at 5-under.
It’s quite the swing for Brown: He’s missed the cut or withdrawn from seven of his last eight tournaments – all on the DP World Tour – and finished 61st at his most recent entry.
Brown has two more holes to finish out the impressive first round at Royal Troon.
In 2019, Shane Lowry captured his first and only major title at The Open Championship. In 2024, he put himself in good position to make a run at another.
The Irishman finished his first round at The Open Championship with a 5-under 66, good for sole possession atop the leaderboard.
Of the golfers who remain on the course, Daniel Brown (4-under, 67) is the only other threat to Lowry’s lead. Earlier in the day, Justin Thomas set the standard with a 3-under 68. Thomas sits alone in third place.
Tiger Woods started the first round of the 2024 Open Championship with promise, but it ended with disappointment.
After tallying two pars and a birdie in his first three holes, Woods couldn’t keep the momentum going: He would bogey four of his next five holes, including a double on the par-3 fifth. Woods added four more bogeys on the back nine, finishing his day at an 8-over 79.
After his victory at the 2024 U.S. Open, Bryson DeChambeau teed off at the links in Scotland for the 2024 Open Championship on Thursday. He had a first round to forget, however: DeChambeau struggled, finishing with a 5-over 76, likely ending his opportunity at a third major victory.
With a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 11, Shane Lowry has taken sole possession of the first-round lead at the 152nd Open Championship.
The winner of the Claret Jug in 2019 at Royal Portrush, Lowry has put together a bogey-free opening round so far –with three birdies on the front nine in addition to his latest bird on the par-4 11th.
Playing in the same group with a struggling Tiger Woods, reigning PGA champion Xander Schauffele rolled in a 36 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-4 11th hole to tie Justin Thomas and Shane Lowry for the first-round lead.
Schauffele previously birdied both of the par-3 holes on the front nine before adding his latest on 11. Woods is at 6-over through 11 holes.
With the opening round in progress and a good number of golfers still on the course, here’s a look at the top early starters who’ve already completed their rounds.
- Justin Thomas 68 (-3)
- Alex Noren 69 (-2)
- Nicolai Hojgaard 69 (-2)
- Justin Rose 69 (-2)
- Russell Henley 69 (-2)
- Adam Scott 70 (-1)
- Matt Wallace 70 (-1)
- Chris Kirk 70 (-1)
Justin Thomas has company at the top of the leaderboard.
Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, rolled in a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 8 to get to 3-under for his round – matching Thomas’ score from earlier in the day.
As the wind picks up during the afternoon, birdies seem to be in much shorter supply. But Lowry has been steady tee-to-green so far, with three birdies and five pars.
With a highlight-reel birdie putting him 1-under through three holes, Tiger Woods was off to a strong start at Royal Troon. However, the damp and breezy conditions have made things much more difficult for the 15-time major champion as his round has progressed.
Woods bogeyed the par-5 fourth – one of the easier holes on the course – then double-bogeyed the par-3 fifth to negate any of the early momentum he may have built up. After another bogey at 7, Woods flew the green on the short par-3 “Postage Stamp” hole and missed his putt for par.
Through eight holes, Woods is 4-over on his round.
Golf just isn’t supposed to be this easy for a teenager.
Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo – who plays collegiately in the U.S. at Texas A&M – made it into this year’s British Open by surviving a grueling 36-hole qualifying tournament.
In his first hole at Royal Troon, the 19-year-old successfully found the fairway off the tee, putting him 132 yards from the hole.
And then this happened.
The opening eagle immediately put Montojo onto the leaderboard, just one stroke behind clubhouse leader Justin Thomas.
Brooks Koepka always seems to be at his best in the biggest events, with five major titles in his career. But he’s never won the British Open.
He has, however, finished in the top 10 at The Open four different times.
Koepka rebounded from a pair of bogeys on the second and third holes with an impressive string of four consecutive birdies to move within one shot of the lead.
Three of those birdies came after deadly accurate approach shots left him with putts inside 12 feet. He also birdied the monstrous par-5 sixth hole with a 28-footer that he buried in the bottom of the cup.
Royal Troon Golf Club, a links course, is located on the coast of Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The course was founded in 1878 and sits near the River Clyde.
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as his iconic chip-in at No. 16 at Augusta, but Tiger Woods showed a glimpse of the old magic on the third hole at Royal Troon.
Sitting above the hole and just off the back of the green, Woods’ putt over a ridge made a sweeping turn back to his left and rolled directly in the cup for birdie.
The birdie put Tiger at 1-under for his round — two strokes behind leader Justin Thomas.
Three-time British Open winner Tiger Woods has begun his opening round, hitting a 3-wood off the tee into a stiff wind at the 365-yard, par-4 first hole. Woods found the light rough on the right side of the fairway and hit a 6-iron safely onto the front of the green.
From there, he two-putted for a routine par.
Woods, a 15-time major champion, is playing in a group with Patrick Cantlay and reigning PGA champ Xander Schauffele. Both of them also parred the opening hole.
After a brief stumble early on the back nine, American Justin Thomas finished with a flurry to take the outright lead with a 3-under 68.
“I’m very satisfied. Not as satisfied as I’ll be when I’m in sweatpants and a sweatshirt this afternoon on the couch,” Thomas told NBC’s interviewer Cara Banks “This is a proper Scottish day and it’s nice to get off to a good start.”
Thomas birdied five of his first 10 holes at Royal Troon, including the famous “Postage Stamp” par-3 eighth to briefly take a two-shot lead. But he gave those shots right back when his driver betrayed him, resulting in a double bogey on 12 and bogey on 13.
But the two-time major champion (PGA 2017, 2022) rallied with birdies on the final two holes to take a one-stroke lead over three others already in the clubhouse – and several others still on the course.
USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken has some thoughts:
“If you’re old enough to remember the origins of Tiger Woods, there’s nostalgic pleasure in the idea he can still dunk on Colin Montgomerie today with just as much flair as he did during the 1997 Masters in a third round that changed the course of golf history,” Wolken writes. “But Montgomerie, in the full context of his comments in the London Times, isn’t wrong either.”
What exactly is Woods trying to accomplish by still being out there?
Unless he can do something on the course, we might have to admit that Monty had a point.
Read Dan Wolken’s entire column.
After an early birdie, things have gone south for Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy at the British Open.
McIlroy took a double bogey on the par-3 “Postage Stamp” eighth hole after a promising tee shot just carried into a greenside bunker. However, he needed two shots to escape the sand and then missed a 14-footer for bogey.
His troubles continued with a bogey on No. 10 and a double on 11. Through 13 holes, the 2014 Open champion sat eight shots off the lead at 5-over.
McIlroy first appeared at The Open in 2007, when he finished in 42nd place. He has finished in the top six six times in eight tournaments dating back to 2014. He tied for sixth last year at Royal Liverpool.
Masters winner Scottie Scheffler has appeared at The Open three times in his career, with his highest finish coming during his 2021 debut at the event. Scheffler finished in a tie for eighth place that year at Royal St. George’s.
Scheffler has one of the later tee times of Thursday’s first round. He’ll get started at 10:10 a.m. ET in a group with Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young.
England’s Justin Rose parred every hole on the back nine to complete a 2-under 69 and put him in a tie for the lead among golfers who’ve finished their rounds.
The 2013 U.S. Open champion carded a pair of birdies in his bogey-free round. He joins Sweden’s Alex Noren and Norway’s Nicolai Hojgaard as the clubhouse leaders − with six others still on the course − at 2-under.
Rose, 43, has several near-misses in majors over his career, including a tie for second behind Francesco Molinari at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Tiger Woods is a three-time winner at The Open, pulling off victories in 2000, 2005 and 2006.
Tiger’s first appearance at The Open was in 1995, when he finished in a tie for 68th place. He’s only appeared at the tournament once during the past four years, and that was in 2022 when he missed the cut. The last time he made the cut was in 2018 when he finished in a tie for sixth place at Carnoustie in Scotland.
Woods is set to play his first two rounds at Royal Troon with PGA champ Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. Their group tees off at 9:37 a.m. ET.
The weather for today’s opening round? Typical British Open conditions: breezy and wet. Rain early in the morning has given way to scattered sprinkles, leaving the greens saturated and fairly slow in the early going.
The official forecast calls for “outbreaks of rain and drizzle” throughout the day with a “moderate to fresh” breeze and temperatures in the 60s. Winds should pick up as the afternoon progresses with gusts exceeding 20 mph.
U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau came to Scotland flying high after his thrilling victory at Pinehurst. However, any expectations of a second major title in 2024 have been severely damaged by his struggles over the first six holes at Troon.
DeChambeau bogeyed three of the first four holes − then after an errant drive on the par-5 sixth in which he was unable to advance the ball out of the native grass on his second shot, he had to hit into an adjacent fairway to even have a shot at the green. But his troubles weren’t over.
After missing the green and pitching to 10 feet, he missed his bogey putt and tapped in for double.
DeChambeau was 5-over through his first six holes. However, he got a measure of redemption on the back nine with an eagle on the par-5 16th. He ended the day with a 5-over 76.
Troon showed its teeth on hole No. 12 as early leader Justin Thomas hit a wayward drive far left into the gorse and had to take an unplayable lie. From there, he had to re-tee and then had to play his fourth shot from the 11th fairway.
Thomas was able to get in position to only drop one shot, but he missed a 6-foot putt for bogey to fall back into a tie for the lead with Alex Noren, Justin Rose and Russell Henley at 2-under.
Justin Thomas got to the top of the leaderboard early Thursday with three birdies on holes 7, 8 and 10, including this beauty on the “Postage Stamp.” He was 4-under through 10. Here’s an early look at the leaderboard.
Wallace got to 4-under after his birdie on the eighth, dubbed the “Postage Stamp” because of the small putting surface. According to the Royal Troon web site: “The tee is on high ground and a dropping shot is played over a gully to a long but extremely narrow green set into the side of a large sandhill. Two bunkers protect the left side of the green while a large crater bunker shields the approach.”
Younghan Song made the turn at 3-under for a share of the early lead. Song made a spectacular birdie on the No. 8 “Postage Stamp” to get to 4-under. He then three-putted the ninth for bogey and was tied for the lead with Matt Wallace.
Matt Wallace holed out from 85 yards on the par-5 No. 4 for eagle. He landed it just short of the pin and it spun back into the hole. The beauty gave him an early share of the lead at 3-under. Wallace, 34, has one PGA Tour win (2023 Corales Puntacana Championship) and seeks his first major championship.
How to watch 2024 British Open on TV
The Open will be broadcast live on NBC and on USA Network, with coverage also on NBC’s Peacock streaming service. The broadcast schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):
Round 1: Thursday, July 18
- 1:30 a.m.- 4 a.m.: Peacock
- 4 a.m.-3 p.m.: USA Network
- 3 p.m.-4 p.m.: Peacock
How to stream 2024 British Open
Live coverage and featured groups can be followed on the live stream on Peacock, as well as Fubo.
2024 British Open leaderboard
Follow along for live scoring updates from Royal Troon.
British Open first round tee times
All times Eastern
1:35 a.m. — Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, Jack McDonald
1:46 a.m. — Tom McKibbin, Alex Noren, Calum Scott
1:57 a.m. — Jesper Svensson, Vincent Norrman, Michael Hendry
2:08 a.m. — Younghan Song, Daniel Hillier, Ryosuke Kinoshita
2:19 a.m. — Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Abraham Ancer
2:30 a.m. — Nicolai Hojgaard, Adam Scott, Keita Nakajima
2:41 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Jasper Stubbs
2:52 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Sungjae Im, Matthew Southgate
3:03 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Matt Wallace, Laurie Canter
3:14 a.m. — Sebastian Soderberg, Matteo Manassero, Shubhankar Sharma
3:25 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Austin Eckroat, Thorbjorn Olesen
3:36 a.m. — John Daly, Santiago de la Fuente, Aaron Rai
3:47 a.m. — Stewart Cink, Chris Kirk, Dominic Clemons
4:03 a.m. — Stephan Jaeger, Adam Schenk, Joaquin Niemann
4:14 a.m. — Adam Hadwin, Lucas Glover, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
4:25 a.m. — Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Matthieu Pavon
4:36 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre
4:47 a.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Tom Kim
4:58 a.m. — Brian Harman, Viktor Hovland, Sahith Theegala
5:09 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton
5:20 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Will Zalatoris, Gordon Sargent
5:31 a.m. — Harris English, Maverick McNealy, Alexander Bjork
5:42 a.m. — Guido Migliozzi, Sean Crocker, Tommy Morrison
5:53 a.m. — David Puig, John Catlin, Guntaek Koh
6:04 a.m. — Thriston Lawrence, Daniel Bradbury, Elvis Smylie
6:15 a.m. — Nacho Elvira, Minkyu Kim, Darren Fichardt
6:26 a.m. – Mason Andersen, Masahiro Kawamura, Sam Hutsby
6:47 a.m. — Ewen Ferguson, Marcel Siem
6:58 a.m. — CT Pan, Romain Langasque, Yuto Katsuragawa
7:09 a.m. — Rikuya Hoshino, Angel Hidalgo, Richard Mansell
7:20 a.m. — Corey Conners, Ryan Fox, Jorge Campillo
7:31 a.m. — Ernie Els, Gary Woodland, Altin van der Merwe (a)
7:42 a.m. — Henrik Stenson, Rasmus Hojgaard, Jacob Skov Olesen (a)
7:53 a.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, Billy Horschel, Victor Perez
8:04 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Brendon Todd, Jordan Smith
8:15 a.m. — Denny McCarthy, Taylor Moore, Adrian Meronk
8:26 a.m. — Jason Day, Byeong Hun An, Rickie Fowler
8:37 a.m. — Alex Cejka, Eric Cole, Kurt Kitayama
8:48 a.m. — Darren Clarke, JT Poston, Dean Burmester
9:04 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Joost Luiten, Dustin Johnson
9:15 a.m. — Padraig Harrington, Davis Thompson, Matthew Jordan
9:26 a.m. — Wyndham Clark, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka
9:37 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay
9:48 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Si Woo Kim
9:59 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith, Matt Fitzpatrick
10:10 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young
10:21 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Tom Hoge, Sami Valimaki
10:32 a.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Ben Griffin, Mackenzie Hughes
10:43 a.m. — Yannik Paul, Joe Dean, Andy Ogletree
10:54 a.m. — Ryan van Velzen, Charlie Lindh, Luis Masaveu (a)
11:05 a.m. — Kazuma Kobori, Jaime Montojo Fernandez (a), Liam Nolan (a)
11:16 a.m. — Daniel Brown, Denwit David Boriboonsub, Matthew Dodd-Berry (a)
11:27 a.m. — Jeunghun Wang (Kor), Aguri Iwasaki (Jpn), Sam Horsfield
(a) – amateur
- Scottie Scheffler (+500)
- Rory McIlroy (+750)
- Ludvig Aberg (+1200)
- Bryson DeChambeau (+1400)
- Xander Schauffele (+1400)
- Collin Morikawa (+1800)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+2200)
- Jon Rahm (+2500)
- Tyrell Hatton (+2500)
- Viktor Hovland (+2500)
Who won British Open last year?
American Brian Harman claimed his first career major by playing four rounds of consistent, steady golf in the soggy conditions at Royal Liverpool to win the 2023 British Open by six strokes.
With only two career victories on the PGA Tour, Harman entered Sunday’s final round with a five-shot lead. He closed with a 1-under 70 as Jon Rahm, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Sepp Straka all tied for second place.
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