Pádraig Harrington didn’t expect too many favours from a links which he described as intimidating, and so it proved in the opening round of the Senior Open presented by Rolex at Carnoustie where the 52-year-old Dubliner shot a first round 71 that left him trailing Stephen Ames by three strokes.
Ames, from Trinidad and Tobago but a long-time resident of Canada and who plays with dual nationality, produced the low round of an opening day on the testing links with a brilliantly crafted four-under-par 68 that featured five birdies and a lone bogey on the difficult 16th.
Harrington and fellow Dubliner Peter Lawrie, who turned 50 in March and is playing in his first senior Major, and also compiled a 71 to get very much into the business part of the championship.
On his return to the links where he achieved his breakthrough Claret Jug success in 2007, the first of his three Majors, Harrington – runner-up in this championship for the past two years – had four birdies and three bogeys in his round.
“I played well at times, then struggled the last couple of holes and made some good saves on 16 and 17. I think 71 is fine. It’s well in there. I’d like to play a little bit better for the rest of the week,” said Harrington, who had a top-25 finish in last week’s 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
Of the challenge at Carnoustie, he added of his round: “I’ve plenty of demons out there but I do enjoy myself. I can enjoy the fact that I’ve won here ... but the golf course is tough, there’s a lot of defensive shots on the course. There’s trouble everywhere looking at you. It’s a golf course that, you know, it intimidates you.”
Lawrie, breaking new ground with his appearance in the Senior Open, also had four birdies and three bogeys. In his case, the birdies came early as he got off to a great start with birdies on the second, fourth and fifth to get to three under before suffering back-to-back bogeys on the sixth and seventh and dropped another shot on nine to turn in level par.
However, a birdie on the 12th got Lawrie back to one under par and he finished with six straight pars to remain inside the top-10.
Darren Clarke, the champion in 2022 when he edged out Harrington by one stroke, opened with a two-over-par 74.
In the Black Desert NI Open at Galgorm Castle on the Challenge Tour, which was disrupted by thunder and lightning, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren claimed the first round lead with a 63.
On the PGA Tour, Séamus Power – looking to consolidate his position inside the top-70 on the FedEx Cup standings, where he is currently 66th – opened with a two-under-par 69 in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota where Canadian Mackenzie Hughes claimed the clubhouse lead with a fine 64.
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