Royal Birkdale member Matthew Baldwin got the 154th Open under way in almost perfect scoring conditions, with the Southport links bathed in early morning sunshine with a gentle easterly breeze drifting across the course.
The 40-year-old, making his first major appearance since 2019 having come through final qualifying, was given the honour of starting the event on his home course and received a rapturous welcome as he teed off at 6:35 am (0535 GMT).
Irons will be more in play off the tee this week due to the dry, firm and fast conditions created by the summer heatwave and that was the option for Baldwin, who found the fairway, missed the green but got up and down for par.
Belgium’s Thomas Detry took driver off the first and was rewarded with a birdie, while American James Nicholas pulled an iron into the rough and finished with a bogey.
There were nine Englishmen and an Argentinian – amateur Mateo Pulcini had predicted a 2-1 win for the South Americans – in the first 11 groups out.
How many of them had stayed up late to watch England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina was unknown but Justin Rose, teeing off at the slightly later time of 9:36 am, had said on Tuesday he was committed to the whole match.
Two groups behind him was defending champion Scottie Scheffler, attempting to become the first player since Padraig Harrington in 2008 to retain the Claret Jug – coincidentally on this course.
The world number one was playing with another English hopeful Tyrrell Hatton and two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau, trying to avoid an unwanted grand slam of missed cuts at this year’s majors.
They were followed by Jordan Spieth, the champion the last time the Open was held in Birkdale in 2017, Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood and his Ryder Cup team-mate Jon Rahm.
Rory McIlroy was in the afternoon marquee group, out at 3:15 pm, with Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick and 2024 champion Xander Schauffele.
In the final round of last week’s Scottish Open, a clip of McIlroy admonishing himself with the words “I’m so bad at golf” after badly pulling his approach to the 16th green as he tried to make a late charge went viral.
The Masters champion and career grand slam winner has had plenty of time to work on his issues so when asked what the motivating factor would be when he stepped onto Birkdale’s first tee, he said: “Seeing how good I can be.
“Seeing if the work I’ve put in and the practice that I’ve put in can stand up to the most intense pressure that we are under, which is major championships.”
On his last appearance at Southport, McIlroy was five over after six holes but recovered to finish with a one-over-par 71, six behind joint leader Spieth.
It was to prove costly as McIlroy ended the tournament joint-fourth, seven adrift of Spieth.
“Fast starts are always important in these tournaments, or at least not shooting yourself out of it,” he said.
“I did well to rally in 2017 and shoot a decent score on that first day after a bad start.
“Like 72 holes is a long golf tournament. A lot of things can happen so it’s not essential, but it’s obviously better to start well than not to start well.”
