Topsy-turvy opening day at 151st Open Championship, Sharma in top-10

Day one of the 151st Open Championship at Hoylake threw up its share of surprises with towering South African amateur Christo Lamprecht in a three-way tie for the lead, favoured golfers struggling on the Royal Liverpool links and India’s Shubhankar Sharma well-placed in the top-10 on Thursday.

India’s only representative at the final major of the year fired a 3 under par 68 under changeable conditions, his card studded with four birdies against one shot dropped early in the round. Starting out amongst the final few groups, Sharma finished in near-darkness but it was a solid performance and one that left him visibly pleased.

The golfer, who turns 27 on the day, said later, “The birthday bit can wait. We did some good preparation before this event when I was here three weeks ago. It was good to get a look at the course, have three rounds before the event started.

“Today, I’m really happy that my work has kind of paid off. Very proud of the way I played, I was rarely out of position. Made lots of pars as well. It was a solid round. Three-under is a solid start especially at a major championship and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Sharma started briskly and was 2 under after his first five holes. The only blemish on his card came on the par-4 seventh but two birdies thereafter made sure of a place in the top 10 even with his round taking over five hours to complete. He had a difficult moment on hole 16 when his drive went out of position but recovered well to come away with [ar.

Elsewhere, local favourite Tommy Fleetwood, Lamprecht and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina led the way with 5 under 66s on a challenging day at Royal Liverpool, particularly for those teeing off late in the afternoon as Sharma did.

Favoured players however, did not have it easy on the opening day as they fought to stay in the mix for the weekend. Scottish Open winner Rory McIlroy had an early birdie but that was followed by some real strife including missed ar putts from close.

A massive birdie putt on the back nine though seemed to settle the Northern Irishman’s nerves somewhat as the 2014 on this same track put his round back on course for first making the weekend.

Winner in 2017, Jordan Spieth kept himself in contention on 2 under 69, one behind US Open winner Wyndham Clark while PGA Championship topped Brooks Koepka overcame a slow start to finish on 1 under 70, level with world number one Scottie Scheffler.

Defending champion Cameron Smith of Australia dropped five shots against four birdies for a 1 over 72, leaving him with plenty to do in the push to retain his title won in spectacular fashion at St Andrews last year.

The story of the day though was scripted by the giant South African amateur who found himself a shock leader amongst a field of top professionals. Making his Open debut, Lamprecht, playing alongside mentor and hero Louis Oosthuizen, made a fast start with three birdies on the first six holes and even a bogey after the turn did not slow him up as he brought in a nerveless 66 on the day.

Lamprecht later said the support of Oosthuizen was crucial to his success. “I think that helped a lot with my score today,” he said. “Having someone that I know very well and is a ginormous mentor for me that I've played previously with kind of helped me feel a little bit more at home and at ease.

“Louis was by far the favourite (player growing up). I've kind of grown up, known him personally, and watching him play, it's pretty amazing. I don't think I've ever beaten him. I guess beating him today was really nice.”