This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Justin Thomas birdied his final two holes to shoot a 3-under-par 68 and set the early pace at the 152nd Open Championship on Thursday at Royal Troon in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Thomas, a two-time major champion who’s struggled in recent seasons, rang up seven birdies to make up two bogeys and a double. A chip-in birdie at the second hole sent him on his way, and he was 4 under through 11 holes before losing his tee shot at the par-4 12th.
Settling for double bogey there and bogey at No. 13 didn’t take him out of the running amid the cool, rainy conditions on the Scottish seaside. Thomas birdied the par-3 17th from 8 feet to tie a group of co-leaders at 2 under, and he got a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to fall to take the lead outright.
“I feel like everything has been turning the right way, and I’ve been working on the right things,” said Thomas, who’s winless since the 2022 PGA Championship. “Just like I said, I haven’t really had much to show for it. That’s just how this game works sometimes. But I know that I’m close the way it is, and I’m just going to keep playing and not play for results, just play for my game, and it’ll take care of itself.”
Alex Noren of Sweden, Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, Justin Rose of England and Russell Henley posted 2-under 69s earlier in the day. Rose, 43, who had to go through final qualifying to make the field, was the only one to shoot a bogey-free round.
Adam Scott of Australia, Englishman Matt Wallace and Chris Kirk were in the clubhouse at 1-under 70.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland already is in danger of missing the cut after a disastrous stretch of holes. At the par-3 eighth hole nicknamed the Postage Stamp for its small green, McIlroy found the Coffin bunker off the tee. On his first attempt to punch out, the ball trickled back down the slope into the sand.
After taking double bogey there and bogey at No. 10, McIlroy drove out of bounds at the par-4 11th and incurred another double bogey. He was 6 over through 16 holes at 3 p.m. local time.
Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa had just teed off in the afternoon wave.
–Field Level Media
