The Open 2019 LIVE leaderbord: Rory McIlroy nine off lead as Shane Lowry leads the way and Tiger Woods begins
Follow the latest scores from the 148th Open Championship as the final major of the year returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years
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Your support makes all the difference.Follow the latest scores from The Open live as the first day at Royal Portrush gets underway.
The 148th Open Championship returns to Northern Ireland for only the second time in the tournament’s grand history, 68 years after first visiting Portrush in 1951, and features a heavily-packed Irish contingent of Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and plenty others.
But a number of Americans arrive at the final major of the year heading the pecking order, with Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods both hotly fancied after their recent form – the former unstoppable in majors over the last two years and latter claiming his 15th major at the Masters.
But there are plenty of other names in the mix from closer to home, with former world No 1 Justin Rose and in-form Englishman Matt Wallace among those to watch, while Jon Rahm is expected to challenge for his first major victory.
Follow the live scores below.
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17th hole
Webb Simpson (-5) finds himself in trouble on the second to last hole, He recovered after finding the rough to give himself a lonng putt for par but he missed it. He'll be dropping back into the pack but by how much?
Garcia (-3) on the same hole rolls his birdie putt over the right edge of the hole and settles for par.
Perhaps as he makes the turn, there's finally a glimmer of confidence behind the eyes of Rory McIlroy. A birdie takes him back to three-over-par, his shoulders have a little less hangdog about them. If he can put together a run on the back nine, he can go some way to making amends for his calamitous start.
On the tee
What a group we have here. America's Justin Thomas, Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and England's Tommy Fleetwood.
Olesen finds the left hand rough with Fleetwood and Thomas in the fairway. The weather takes a turn for the worse as the rain gets heavier.
13th hole
McDowell (-2) leaves another putt agonisingly close but settles for another par.
10th hole
DeChambeau (evs) gets back to level par for his round with a birdie on 10.
18th
Garica (-3) finds the right side bunker with his approach to the green. Simpson (-4) leaves his 2nd just short.
9th hole
Kisner (-4) is looking at a double bogey on the ninth. He sent his second shot into a large bush and had to take a drop. His fourth shot onto the green then left him with a long putt for bogey which his missed.
Brooks Koepka is underway
Koepka gets his round started with a booming drive. He's applauded by the crowd and rightly so.
His lowest finish in 2019 major championships is second place, which to made at the Masters and the US Open.
Koepka retained his US PGA Championship in New York in May.
Simpson finishes poorly
Back-to-back bogeys for Webb Simpson on 17 and 18 saw him drop to (-3) and lose the outright lead. Nevertheless he goes into the clubhouse with a solid round of 68.
Joining him are Sergio Garcia (-3), who pulled off a tricky up and down on the last to save par, and Alex Noren (-3) who parred the last four holes to stay one off the lead.
14th hole
Loud cheers echo around the 14th green as G-Mac (-3) rolls in his third birdie off the day, if he's anywhere near the lead going up 18 the grandstand will go wild.
The jackets have come on and the umbrellas are out. The rain is coming down steadily and conditions are worsening.
There's more water on the surface which is holding up the ball.
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