ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – St. Andrews is hosting the 150th edition of The Open, marking the 30th time the championship has been contested at The Old Course. After an 8-under (64) in his Open Championship debut, PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young leads by two over Rory McIlroy.
Young holds his third first-round lead/co-lead of the season, tied with McIlroy for most on Tour. McIlroyβs (66) is his best opening round at The Open since carding the same score en route to winning at Hoylake in 2014.
Making his 90th major championship start, three-time Open Championship winner Tiger Woods equals the highest opening round score in his 22 starts at the event.
World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler sits T-5, marking the 15th time in the last 18 major championship rounds he has been inside the Top 10 on the leaderboard.
Genesis Scottish Open champion Xander Schauffele posted a 3-under (69) in bid to become the first player since McIlroy in 2014 to follow a win on the Tour with a major championship victory the following week.
The 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa opened with an even-par (72) in bid to become the first player to successfully defend at The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008.
The first-round scores for past champions at St. Andrews: Louis Oosthuizen(71), Zach Johnson (72), John Daly (73), Woods (78).
Justin Rose (back injury) and Erik Van Rooyen (neck injury) withdrew prior to the start of the first round and were replaced by Rikuya Hoshino and Aaron Rai, respectively. Both the last-minute alternates opened with a 3-over (75).
The Open Leaderboard | After 18 Holes
Cameron Young 64 (-8)
Rory McIlroy 66 (-6)
Cameron Smith 67 (-5)
Robert Dinwiddie 67 (-5)