The Open: Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton make solid starts

Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Lee Westwood led the English challenge in the first round of The 148th Open with three-under 68s at Royal Portrush.

Fleetwood kept a bogey off his card with birdies at the third, seventh and 13th, while Hatton’s only blemish came at the 18th following birdies at the fifth, 12th, 14th and 17th.

Westwood, 46 and playing in his 19th Open, made his initial move with a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth and, after a couple of bogeys on the back nine, he finished strongly with birdies at the 16th and 18th.

Justin Rose, the world No 4, also made a decent start to sit just behind that trio following a two-under 69. The 38-year-old birdied the opening hole but gave that back at the fourth before picking up birdies at the 12th and 16th.

World No 20 Fleetwood was pleased to have played flawless golf on “such a tough golf course”.

“I hit it well,” he said. “I was very consistent. I think off the tee, I did a good job. I was always in play pretty much and that’s obviously vital. The rough out here is pretty thick. As soon as you hit a bad tee shot, you’re generally going to be hacking out.

“In terms of the bogey-free, which is the best part about the day, I made it very stress free. It wasn’t like I was grinding out and getting loads of up and downs.”

Hatton, 27, lamented his mistake at the last but was otherwise pleased to have negotiated his way around the course with few errors.

“Obviously it was a good day’s work,” he said. “A little bit frustrating to drop a shot on the last. But I was in between two shots on the tee and didn’t do either, which is normally the case. I felt the rain coming in and sort of rushed it a little bit, which was a mistake, unfortunately.

“But apart from that, it’s been a really good day. That was the only time I was in the thick rough. I’ve driven it pretty good all day. I think I hit quite a few greens. Although I wasn’t hitting it too close, I was never making too many mistakes.

“I think that allowed me to have a pretty solid score, and obviously picked up a couple of shots as well, which is nice.”

Rose felt the conditions were just right for the first round to make it a proper test of golf.

“Today was a good day of links golf,” he said. “Felt like three or four seasons out there. The jacket was on and off. There was enough wind to keep it tricky, but also not enough. It was calm enough where you could play with the wind. You could hit good golf shots.

“For me, a 10- or 15-mile-an-hour wind or whatever it was today is a perfect amount of wind on a links course. It separates the guys who are playing well and the guys who aren’t. It doesn’t make it just about a putting competition. Yet it’s playable.”

Eddie Pepperell and Callum Shinkwin are also well-placed after kicking off with rounds of 70, the former despite not playing a practice shot at the course.

“I was pleased it was OK,” said Pepperell. “I struggled a little bit coming in. I struggled with the greens. It was actually my first time seeing the course today. So there was a little bit of that, a bit of the unknown.

“However, I wouldn’t say it hurt me today, quite honestly. I saw it yesterday walking around in the rain. It’s not uncommon for me to not play. I’ve done it certainly in nearly every major I’ve played. Practice rounds at majors are so long and boring, and I can’t stand it, so I’d rather not play.”

Matthew Fitzpatrick is one shot further back and he was left frustrated with his putting after mixing three birdies with three bogeys.

“I’ll take back the two shots the entire round,” he said. “I played great tee to green. I didn’t miss a fairway other than the first and then just couldn’t hole a putt.

“If I can keep giving myself the chances and have three good putting days for the rest of the week, I’d like to think I’ll be up there.”

(c) Sky News 2019: The Open: Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton make solid starts