Author: Scott Murray

️New Zealand’s Ryan Fox kept his cool to get his hands on the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale
️Ewan Murray’s report from Birkdale | Final leaderboard

The final few games are running late, due to a rules brouhaha in an earlier match. So if you’ve been hammering away at refresh waiting for news of Tommy Fleetwood, here he comes now. The usual hubbub on the tee, then he takes his fairway wood, hits the ball, and twirls the club in satisfaction. Not exactly sure why, because his ball disappears into a thick clump of grass atop a bank to the left of the fairway. Some tension in the shoulders no doubt.

Another birdie for Scottie Scheffler! He crashes his drive at 5 greenside, chips up to four feet, and rolls in the putt. No fuss. The defending champion is now -7, and if he continues like this, posts a number, and the late-starting leaders have to deal with the cranking up of both wind and pressure … well now, we’d have quite the Open. A long way to go yet.

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️Ryan Fox shot 62, Rory blasted Bryson, Sam Burns quietly took charge
️Official leaderboard
️McIlroy lashes out at DeChambeau over penalty row

It’s the same old story for Rory McIlroy: he just can’t keep any momentum going this week. He follows that chip-in eagle on 9 with bogey at 11. Back to -1, and a second Claret Jug continues to hover out of reach. At least he’s got one. Jon Rahm has a strangely underwhelming record at the Open: a couple of high finishes in 2019 and 2023 without ever really looking likely to win. And it’s threatening to happen again. He carves his opening drive over the bushes to the right and out of bounds, and starts with a double-bogey six. His fume is internal, but it is real, registering eight-and-a-half out of ten on Bryson DeChambeau’s patented R&A-o-meter™.

Ryan Fox speaks to Sky. “The game plan was to be aggressive … I hit driver a lot … your strategy changes with the wind around here … I had a couple of interesting shots on the back nine and kinda got away with them … pretty happy with 62 in the end, that’s for sure … had a lot of fun with [Xander Schauffele] … he played really well too and we kind of fed off each other … was pretty happy to make par [on 18] from that fairway trap … I haven’t really put four rounds together [at the Open] … hopefully this is a sign … I’m in a pretty good place to give myself a chance so we’ll see what happens!”

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️Updates from the first-round action at Royal Birkdale
️Ewan Murray’s preview | Official leaderboard | Mail Scott

James Nicholas putts up from the side of 1. A decent effort that limits the damage to bogey. It’s par for Matthew Baldwin, while the confident drive of Thomas Detry leads to the first birdie of the week: a wedge to eight feet, and a right-to-left slider rolled in. Mixed fortunes for the members of the opening group of the 154th Open Championship!

-1: Detry (1)
E: Baldwin (1)
+1: Nicholas (1)

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️ Wyndham Clark survived a wobble to win his second US Open by one shot
️ Official leaderboard

The defending champion JJ Spaun didn’t make the weekend. Last year’s runner-up did, though, and Robert MacIntyre has finished his week with a level-par 70. He’s +7, and wouldn’t be human if he’s still not cursing Viktor Hovland for giving Spaun a read ahead of that tournament-winning putt. Meanwhile in other European news, Justin Rose has just made three birdies in a row, on 11, 12 and 13, to rise up the standings to +1. A top-ten finish within reach for the 2013 champ.

There have been quite a few shots of both Wyndham Clark and Scottie Scheffler going through their practice routines. Clark wedging an alignment stick through the loops of his trousers for real-time hip analysis; Scheffler missing a few short putts, which doesn’t augur well. Meanwhile here’s more good news for Clark courtesy of David ‘Not That One’ Howell: “The scoring variance has continued to be lower than in prior US Opens here, and low variance is obviously what a six-shot leader wants. Secondly, finding fairways doesn’t seem to be as important today. Lots of players have been scoring over par while hitting most fairways, and several of today’s best rounds have come in spite of missing a few. Considering that Clark has historically not been the straightest off the tee, it’s reasonable to assume he might find the fescue a bit under pressure, but that might not be a death sentence today.” Speaking of belt loops, any old excuse to enjoy the greatest zinger ever told …

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️ Clark builds a huge lead on Moving Day at Shinnecock
️ Official leaderboard

Rory McIlroy leaves himself another monster putt, this time on 3. He doesn’t judge this 70-footer particularly well, leaving himself a ten-foot tester for his par. It’s always dying to the right of the cup, and he drops to +1. Emiliano Grillo also takes a step backwards, finding the bunker to the right of the par-three 17th, and having found himself shortsided, leaving himself too much to do after the chip out. Grillo slips back to level par for the tournament.

Emiliano Grillo birdies the par-five 16th – statistically the second-easiest hole on the course today – and he moves into red figures for the week at -1. The 33-year-old Argentinian, whose best finish by far at an US Open was his tie for 19th last year, is now four-under par for his round today.

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️ Aaron Rai put together one of the great closing rounds – and sunk a monster putt for the ages – to finally scatter a bunched field at Aronimink
️ Official leaderboard

Parish noticeboard. Shane Lowry finished his week as he started it, with a fine round of 68. He never really got over the top into the water at 17 on Friday; that Cognizant Classic collapse cuts deep. He’s +2 for his week’s work. Matt Wallace won’t become the first Englishman to win since Jim Barnes in 1919, but he ends his tournament with a 68 as well; he’s +2 too. A final round of 74 for last weekend’s nearly man at the Truist, Alex Fitzpatrick, who departs his maiden Stateside major at +8. And Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald finishes a very respectable week in style, with a 69 that puts the 48-year-old veteran at +7.

While we’re on the subject of tournament records, let’s give fair measure to Kurt Kitayama. His round of 63 ties the lowest final-round score at any PGA Championship, set by Brad Faxon at Riviera in 1995. Faxon stays top of the list, however, on account of Riviera being a par 71, so his round was eight under par, compared to Kitayama’s seven. But we’re splitting hairs here. Kitayama deserves his flowers.

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Alex Smalley takes a two-shot lead into the final round but some big names lurk at Aronimink

Xander Schauffele fancies reclaiming the crown he won in 2024. He turned in 32, and now he’s just made his fifth birdie of the day at 11. He joins Rory as the only currently active member of the group at -3.

Justin Rose has rolled in two big putts on 18 already this week. Par savers both. And it’s three pars at the closing hole now, though he’s not so chuffed about this one, a 15-foot birdie attempt stopping just short. He cocks his head back in frustration, though it surely won’t sting for long, because that’s set the seal on a 65, and at -2 he’s right in the mix. He joins Kristoffer Reitan and Chris Kirk in the clubhouse lead.

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