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.
Latest updates
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No drop shots for Kiradech
Kiradech Aphibarnrat makes three on the 18th to head into the clubhouse one shot off the lead.
Birdies on 2, 12 and 18 see him post a first round 68 with no shots dropped.
Leaderboard Update:
Lowry -4 (67)
Noren -3 (68)
Simpson -3 (68)
Garcia -3 (68)
Frittelli -3 (68)
MacIntyre -3 (68)
Aphibarnrat -3 (68)
12th hole
Si-Woo Kim (-2) moves within two shots with a birdie on 12.
14th hole
McIlroy (+3) leaves his birdie putt mere inches short of the hole and settles for another par. He looks in better touch than he did earlier on.
18th hole
McDowell (-1) finds the long rough off the tee on the last and can't find his ball. He goes back to the tee and plays his third sending the ball to the left of the fairway.
6th hole
Tommy Fleetwood (-1) keeps himself under par with a long birdie putt on 6 that he rolls up to the hole for a tap in par.
5th hole
Brooks Koepka (-2) makes another birdie putt. This time on the fifth, those in the clubhouse at -3 and -4 cashed in early in their rounds and Koepka is doing the same.
4th hole
Jordan Speith (-2) finds the left edge of the fourth hole with his birdie attempt but has to settle for par.
Shocking finish for McDowell
A seven on the last means Graeme McDowell (+2) dropped five shots in the final four holes and moved over par for the first time in his round.
He got a loud round of applause from his home crowd but it's a disappointing finish to an otherwise decent round for the Northern Irishman.
Three birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey see McDowell into the clubhouse with an opening round of 73.
On the tee
Lee Westwood is underway, he's heading down the first fairway. Next up on the first tee will be Justin Rose, Tony Finau and Lucas Bjerregaard, they'll get started at 2:48pm.
7th hole
Tommy Fleetwood's approach on the par-5 seventh set him up for a birdie putt of just a couple of feet. He sinks the putt with ease and moves to 2-under.
1st hole
Rose, Finau and Bjerregaard all hit their tee shots into the fairway.
16th hole
Rory's hard fought comeback falters heavily again on the par-3 16th. He makes the mistake off the tee and doesn't recover missing a short putt and making a double bogey five.
McIlroy goes back to 5-over-par.
On the tee
World number 2. Dustin Johnson tees off with Jason Day and Keegan Bradley. DJ fires his first drive down the middle, Jason Day follows him and Bradley finishes slightly to the left of them.
Up on the green Justin Rose (-1) gets his round off to the perfect start with an opening birdie.
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