Pádraig Harrington made a solid start to the Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie, one of the three courses on the rotation, with a five-under-par of 67 in round one.
The veteran Dubliner has fond memories of Carnoustie after winning his first Major there in 2007 and he rolled back the years with a blistering start, with seven birdies in his first 14 holes on a low-scoring day of glorious sunshine and calm conditions on the east coast of Scotland.
Starting at the 10th hole, Harrington then had a frustrating finish with bogeys at 7 and 8, his 16th and 17th holes, before having to hole a six-footer at the last to avoid another bogey.
The 53-year-old is a two-time winner of the DP World Tour event and alongside David Howell, the only players to play in every Dunhill Links since its inception in 2001. The tournament is a pro-am where golfers play with amateurs for the first three days across Carnoustie, St Andrews and Kingsbarns, before a final round at St Andrews. Harrington, playing with JP McManus’s son Kieran, told Sky Sports, he was enjoying the “T-shirt weather”.
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“I think the players and the amateurs really enjoy it. We get to mix a lot, we get to hang out, there’s a lot of very interesting amateurs, there’s a lot of questions to be asked. I think we grill them more than the other way. It’s a lot of fun, I know it’s a cliche, but there is a lot going on we can really get into and enjoy, especially in weather like this.”
Despite his disappointing finish, Harrington’s round tied the third best round of the day at Carnoustie, the most difficult of the three courses. Kingsbarns played particularly easy for professionals on a benign day, with South African Darren Fichardt leading the tournament after a stunning 11-under-par 61, only a shot off the course record. He leads Australian Cameron John by a stroke, who shot 62 at Kingsbarns, while Scott Jamison and Andrew Wilson had 63s at Kingsbarns.
Jon Rahm was the best of the Carnoustie players with an impressive seven-under-par 65, matched by his LIV and Ryder Cup team-mate Tyrrell Hatton.
Rory McIlroy had a mixed day, shooting a three-under-par 69 at Carnoustie to leave himself middle of the pack, the highlight of the day coming on the 7th when his father, Gerry, pitched in for par from off the green.
“Overall, it was a perfect day to play Carnoustie. I probably didn’t take advantage of the conditions as much as I wanted to, or should have, but it’s a solid round and something to build upon at Kingsbarns [tomorrow].”
On playing with his father, he said: “It was lovely to be out here with him, we’ve done this a few times before, it’s his 65th birthday on Saturday so to be strolling around with him on the Old Course on Saturday is going to be a pretty special occasion.
“It’s nice to get Carnoustie out of the way, I feel like I could have taken advantage of it a bit more in the conditions, but Kingsbarns is a course where if you get good conditions, historically there has been a lot of low scoring, so the aim is to get out there and shoot a low one to get myself back in the tournament.”
Shane Lowry shot a solid four-under-par 68 at Carnoustie in his opening round, while Tom McKibbin was on two under at St Andrews. Alex Maguire had a disappointing two-over-par 74 to be near the bottom of the field.
