PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – For newcomers like J.J. Spaun, making it to the Open Championship for the first time is a significant achievement. However, Royal Portrush`s formidable opening hole, bordered by out-of-bounds areas on both sides, immediately presents a stern test demanding pinpoint accuracy.
Consider Padraig Harrington, who embraced the challenge of hitting the very first shot of the tournament at 6:35 AM. This meant a 4 AM wake-up call to face the notoriously narrow, `bowling alley`-like corridor of the first hole.
Harrington admitted to having “plenty of second thoughts” about taking on the early tee time, specifically due to the daunting first shot. He prepared meticulously, hitting around 40 3-irons on the practice range to gauge the wind conditions. Despite his initial apprehension, he successfully carded a birdie, noting, “I hyped up the tee shot as much as I could so when I got there today, it wasn’t too bad.”
Even for a past champion like Shane Lowry, the 425-yard opening hole offers no respite. Surrounded by hundreds of spectators pressing close to the ropes, the fairway appears even more confined than previous encounters.
“The first tee shot wasn’t that easy,” Lowry said. “I wasn’t feeling very comfortable there.”
Then there`s Rory McIlroy. The narrative leading up to this Open Championship has been dominated by his disastrous 2019 tee shot on this exact hole, which veered left into the out-of-bounds, resulting in a quadruple-bogey 8. Now, he faces the same challenge once more.
Thursday`s scene as McIlroy approached the first tee was undeniably cinematic. Spectators were twenty deep, and the palpable tension yielded to an almost unsettling silence. A nervous cheer rippled through the crowd as he emerged. McIlroy, clutching his driving iron, took two practice swings, consulted his yardage book, and assessed the wind direction. His eventual swing sent the ball piercing low and left, but crucially, it remained within bounds this time.
Fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin commented, “I think Rory’s made that tee shot a lot scarier. That’s all I could probably think about for the last three days.” He confessed to feeling “a little bit nervous and a little bit scared of hitting that shot,” determined to avoid a similar outcome.
Despite missing a short par putt and recording a bogey, a fan succinctly captured the sentiment from the galleries:
“Better than last time,” the fan declared.
Reflecting on the opening hole, McIlroy stated, “I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago.” He expressed satisfaction at achieving “a good start and get[ting] myself into the tournament.”
After the first day of the 153rd Open Championship, while other holes might present greater physical challenges, Royal Portrush`s inaugural hole has emerged as the unequivocal adversary. Its tee shot is a formidable psychological hurdle for every player, demanding mental fortitude before they can truly settle into their game. The towering grandstands surrounding the tee box obscure the wind, while strategically placed bunkers at 275 and 290 yards force even the most self-assured golfers to second-guess their approach.
Thomas Detry described the hole as “playing so tough,” noting, “The wind, you somehow don’t feel the right wind but it’s in off the right.” He emphasized the need for an aggressive tee shot: “Sometimes there’s a couple of holes where it feels like you just want to get it in play, but [here] you want to be a bit more aggressive to give yourself a chance to better make par because it’s really long.”
In essence, the first hole perfectly encapsulates the course`s underlying philosophy: remain on the fairway, or face severe penalties. Officially named `Hughie’s`—a tribute to the former owner of the land now defining the right-side out-of-bounds (the left once being a horse farm)—the course`s official website subtly downplays its formidable nature.
The “Pro`s tip” on the website advises: “Unless against the wind, take a 3 wood or long iron for your opening tee shot.”
While this might sound straightforward, the world`s elite golfers unanimously confirm its difficulty.
Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open champion, highlighted the mental shift required: “Talk about committing to swings. We warm up on the range, and it’s kind of down out of the right and you kind of lead yourself into a bit of a false sense of security.” He continued, “And then you get there, and it’s like, `Yeah, all right. Really need to step up here.` I think I tried to hit that one underground and almost missed it. Not the greatest start to a major championship I’ve ever had.”
Even if the rough or fescue, which tightly borders the fairway as it did for McIlroy on Thursday, saves your shot, you`re still faced with an uphill approach from a potentially poor lie towards an elevated green that remains firm despite the day`s rain.
Jason Day emphasized the precision required: “You’ve got to thread it.” He elaborated on the challenges: “Once you’re in the rough, very difficult to control the ball coming into it. The greens are so firm, so it’s hard to get the correct distance landing it. And you’ve got to hit the fairway there to get yourself in good position to be able to get yourself on the green to at least give yourself a chance to birdie.”
A birdie on this hole? Only twelve were recorded on Thursday. For most, merely securing a par felt like a triumph.
Cameron Smith salvaged a bogey. Ben Griffin incurred a double bogey. Matt Wallace faced the hole during the day`s harshest conditions—when driving rain and wind battered the course—yet remarkably, he still managed a par 4. By day`s end, the first hole averaged a score of 4.295, ranking as the fifth toughest on the course. A mere 55% of players found the fairway, which, despite its 70-yard width, seemed to shrink to half that size under pressure.
Despite its unforgiving nature, the hole also demonstrated the varied outcomes players could experience. Young-han Song of South Korea, with 200 yards to the green, successfully made a birdie. In contrast, Aldrich Potgieter, with 168 yards remaining, bogeyed. K.J. Choi also bogeyed, despite his tee shot failing to reach the fairway and leaving him with a daunting 249-yard second shot to the pin.
Club selection proved highly adaptable. While some players focused on optimizing ball flight and others on maximizing distance, some, like Lowry, abandoned their pre-planned club choices in favor of an option offering greater security.
Lowry explained his decision: “There was no chance I was hitting my 4-wood. I wanted to keep something down out of the wind. So I was like, biggest head in the bag, give it a rip. Thankfully it went straight.”
Wallace reflected on his tee shot in the wet conditions: “With it being wet, it could go anywhere.” He continued, “Two-iron would leave another 2-iron in, so I went with the mini driver. I hit a good one, but then you got a strong drawy 6-iron, 5-iron into a really difficult hole. We played in the hardest moment.”
Even world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, choosing a fairway wood, missed the fairway to the left on Thursday. While he managed to salvage a par, many others were less fortunate, as the hole yielded over four times as many bogeys (or worse) than birdies.
Nico Echavarria remarked that while the first hole initially felt “challenging,” once on the course, “it was almost a simple tee shot compared to some others with the weather we had.”
Echavarria`s observation holds true. Many players discussed the particular difficulty of the 11th hole`s tee shot amidst Thursday`s wind. While various tee shots at Portrush present unique challenges, the first hole`s intimidation stems from its deceptive simplicity—a perception that quickly vanishes once a player steps onto the tee box.
While excelling on the first hole doesn`t guarantee overall success—either for the remainder of a round or the tournament—a strong performance here can indicate a player`s confidence in their club selection, ball flight control, and mental resilience.
With Thursday`s emotionally charged tee shots and opening ceremonies behind them, the first hole might lose some of its initial drama, but its crucial role will persist throughout the event.
Lowry expressed relief, stating, “I’m happy that round of golf is over with. And I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
However, complacency would be ill-advised.
Matteo Manassero warned, “Today was not even that hard of a pin. It can play even harder.”
