JB Holmes opened up a one shot lead heading into the second round of The Open Championship but he had a host of European Tour stars breathing down his neck at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
The oldest Major Championship was being held in Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years and there were incredible crowds when local hero and 2011 champion Darren Clarke hit the first tee shot at 6.35am.
On a day when the weather went from tipping rain to glorious sunshine and everything in between, there was a congested leaderboard before a closing birdie saw American Holmes sign for a 66 and a five under par total.
Irishman Shane Lowry took a large and vociferous crowd with him and he signed for a 67 early in the day to be the nearest challenger, a shot clear of 13 players at three under.
Kiwi Ryan Fox recorded the first back nine of 29 in Open history to sit in that group alongside Major champions Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson.
Former Race to Dubai champions Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood were also two shots off the lead alongside fellow Rolex Series champions Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Noren and Jon Rahm, with Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Tony Finau, Dylan Frittelli and Robert MacIntyre.
Holmes is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and has been a member of the United States’ last two Ryder Cup winning teams but is searching for a first Major title at an event where he finished third in 2016.
First round leaderboard:
66 – JB Holmes (USA)
67 – Shane Lowry (IRL)
68 – Sergio Garcia (ESP), Jon Rahm (ESP), Ryan Fox (NZL), Dylan Frittelli (RSA), Alexander Norén (SWE), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Tony Finau (USA), Webb Simpson (USA), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Lee Westwood (ENG), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG), Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
69 – Romain Langasque (FRA), Park Sang-Hyun (KOR), Justin Rose (ENG), Ashton Turner (ENG)
70 – Cameron Smith (AUS), Jason Day (AUS), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Yuki Yuki Inamori (JPN), Kim Si-Woo (KOR), Erik Van Rooyen (RSA), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Branden Grace (RSA), Rory Sabbatini (SVK), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Charley Hoffman (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA), Andrew Putnam (USA), Matt Kuchar (USA), Rickie Fowler (USA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Callum Shinkwin (ENG), Russell Knox (SCO)
71 – James Sugrue (IRL), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Mikumu Horikawa (JPN), Im Sung-Jae (KOR), Zander Lombard (RSA), Ernie Els (RSA), Justin Harding (RSA), Justin Thomas (USA), Patrick Reed (USA), Doc Redman (USA), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Darren Clarke (NIR)
72 – Thomas Pieters (BEL), Corey Conners (CAN), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Yosuke Asaji (JPN), Hwang Inn-Choon (KOR), Abraham Ancer (MEX), Brandon Stone (RSA), Gunn Charoenkul (THA), Aaron Wise (USA), Lucas Glover (USA), Bubba Watson (USA), Dustin Johnson (USA), Brian Harman (USA), Paul Casey (ENG), Curtis Knipes (ENG), Connor Syme (SCO)
73 – Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Rafael Cabrera (ESP), Adrián Otaegui (ESP), Alexander Levy (FRA), Benjamin Hébert (FRA), Andrea Pavan (ITA), Takumi Kanaya (JPN), An Byeong-Hun (KOR), Joost Luiten (NED), Shaun Norris (RSA), Prom Meesawat (THA), Brandon Wu (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Luke List (USA), Chez Reavie (USA), Jim Furyk (USA), Patton Kizzire (USA), Chris Wood (ENG), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Andrew Johnston (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
74 – Adam Hadwin (CAN), Li Haotong (CHN), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Kang Sung-Hoon (KOR), Mun Doyeob (KOR), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA), David Lipsky (USA), Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Kurt Kitayama (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), Ryan Palmer (USA), Zach Johnson (USA), Brandt Snedeker (USA), Stewart Cink (USA), Jason Kokrak (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Jimmy Walker (USA), Danny Willett (ENG)
75 – Austin Connelly (CAN), Adrià Arnaus (ESP), Padraig Harrington (IRL), Yoshinori Yoshinori Fujimoto (JPN), Isidro Benítez (MEX), Chan Kim (USA), Keith Mitchell (USA), Kyle Stanley (USA), Nate Lashley (USA), Paul Waring (ENG), Ian Poulter (ENG), Tom Lewis (ENG), Jack Senior (ENG), Sam Locke (SCO), Paul Lawrie (SCO)
76 – Jake McLeod (AUS), Joaquin Niemann (CHI), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Matthias Schmid (GER), Yuta Ikeda (JPN), Jang Dong-Kyu (KOR), Joel Dahmen (USA), Phil Mickelson (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Robert Rock (ENG), Andrew Wilson (ENG)
77 – Michaël Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Alexander Björk (SWE), Kevin Streelman (USA), Cheng Tsung Pan (TPE)
78 – Adam Scott (AUS), Marc Leishman (AUS), Richard Sterne (RSA), Tiger Woods (USA), Tom Lehman (USA), Matthew Baldwin (ENG)
79 – Garrick Porteous (ENG), Rory McIlroy (NIR)
82 – Miguel Ángel Jiménez (ESP)
83 – Dimitrios Papadatos (AUS), Shugo Shugo Imahira (JPN), Thomas Thurloway (ENG)
91 – David Duval (USA)
