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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – J.B. Holmes won the Genesis Open in mid-February. Since then? A dozen starts. Seven missed cuts. One WD. Failed to get out of group play at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. A couple of finishes outside the top-60. Other than his previous start, a T-21 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic three weeks ago, it’s been, well, not pretty. Related: Leaderboard | Tough day for Tiger | Rory struggles in opening-round 79 “I played great that one tournament, had a win,â€� Holmes said of his victory at Riviera, the fifth PGA TOUR of his career. “You take that away, it’s probably actually been one of my worst years I’ve played.â€� So naturally, he has the first-round lead at The Open Championship, shooting a 5-under 66 at Royal Portrush on Thursday to lead Irishman Shane Lowry by a stroke. It’s Holmes’ first lead in any round of a major since the 2008 PGA Championship, which he led through 36 holes at Oakland Hills. Such as the vagaries of golf. A player can find something, a spark after months of struggling, and turn it into an opportunity of a lifetime. “I’ve really struggled with my swing kind of after I won,â€� said Holmes, who opened with a bogey, bounced back with a birdie and remained bogey-free for the rest of his round. “At Detroit I had been working on it and it clicked in there and I started hitting it better. “I’ve been practicing the last couple of weeks. I’ve been playing great. So actually felt great coming in. Like I said, my results didn’t show that. But I felt very confident coming in. I was hitting it great. Putted well. “I wasn’t really surprised — I mean, I played well.â€� He may have been one of the few not surprised at Royal Portrush. In 32 starts in majors (not counting two WDs), he’s finished in the top 10 just twice. Both came in 2016 – a T-4 at the Masters, followed later that summer by his best major result, a solo third at The Open. That came on the weekend that Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson eventually turned the tournament into a two-man duel, so it’s doubtful anybody remembers Holmes’ play that week at Royal Troon. But it was a confidence booster, showing that Holmes could fare well on links courses. “That was a great week for me,â€� he said. “And it teaches me I can come out and play. There were two guys that got really hot that week. Besides that, I pretty much had beat the field. So that’s definitely a boost. “I learned a lot playing in that event. And you try to take that to the next one.â€� It took him three years later, but through 18 holes at least, he’s got the field beat. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that it’s at Royal Portrush. While many in the field are getting their first look at the Dunluce course, Holmes actually played a round here during a collegiate trip with his University of Kentucky teammates. They also played another famous course in Northern Ireland, Royal County Down. Alas, there wasn’t much knowledge from that trip to Portrush that he was able to utilize on Thursday. “I don’t remember a whole lot,â€� Holmes said. “I had a couple of caddies over here. … At the time most of the caddies we had weren’t used to somebody hitting 315 or 320, so I got some bad lines. I think I was playing here I hit five or six shots exactly where they told me to and I lost the ball. “The score wasn’t all that great.â€� That changed Thursday. This time, the score was pretty great.
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J.B. Holmes shook off a recent slump to take a one-shot lead after the opening round of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush. (Getty Images)
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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – On the eve of The Open, the discourse was dominated by the tournament’s greater significance. The Open’s return to Royal Portrush was a significant step for a country that suffered through decades of sectarian violence. But golf became the focal point once Darren Clarke hit the first tee shot a little after 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, and Royal Portrush is playing the starring role. Related: 5 Things to Know about Royal Portrush | O.B. could be a factor at The Open “The course is special,â€� Eddie Pepperell said after shooting 70. “This is hopefully going to build into, progress to a historic Open. I’m confident it will be.â€� Rory McIlroy’s Open chances may have ended on his first hole. Graeme McDowell’s sterling round was spoiled by a lost ball on his last hole, and Clarke faded after a fairy-tale start, but the locals will still get to see one of their own shine this weekend. Harry Colt’s design did exactly what a golf course should. It was fair in doling out rewards and punishments. The doglegs require players to commit to a distance and line off the tee. Webb Simpson said he hit drivers and hybrids off the tee Thursday, and everything in between. He is 156th on the PGA TOUR in driving distance, but used his longest club just five times Thursday. First-round leader J.B. Holmes, on the other hand, is one of the TOUR’s longest players. Royal Portrush allows a variety of players to succeed. There’s a myriad of ways to play the course, but the penalties are high for a miscue. Royal Portrush may have the fewest bunkers of any course on The Open rota, but the rough is thick after recent rains and lost balls are a possibility whenever a shot strays from the fairway. “They’ve done such a great job setting this course up, where you have fairway, first cut and then about 7 or 8 yards of light rough,â€� Simpson said. “So a shot that’s not that bad is still okay. And then a really bad shot is super penal, which I think is the perfect way to set it up, because a bad drive, you’re going to have a pitch out. “It’s one of the few courses that every player who’s played it that I’ve talked to this year, they all loved it. Usually you’ll have both sides. But everybody loved it.â€� This is a much different test than the crispy Carnoustie that players faced last year. The lush conditions, combined with Royal Portrush’s elevated greens, mean players must take an aerial route on many holes. The slopes around the putting surfaces repel wayward strikes. Players lauded Royal Portrush for being tough, but fair. “He really will only penalize you if it’s a poor golf shot,â€� Paul Casey said about Colt. “Nothing is random with what he did. That’s the best way to put it. You can see a lot of randomness in links, a lot of why on earth is that there?â€� Casey said he puts Portrush, which is hosting The Open for the first time since 1951, in his “top coupleâ€� among courses in the Open rota. “This has everything,â€� Casey said. “This is an unbelievable golf course.â€� Ireland’s Shane Lowry is the only player within a shot of Holmes, but the crowd at 68 is as large as the one that’s gathered each night this week outside Portrush’s Harbour Bar. Among those contenders are links aficionados Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Tommy Fleetwood, and the game’s dominant force in majors, Brooks Koepka. As proof that the course rewards good play, last week’s winner, Dylan Frittelli, continued his fine form with a first-round 68. But Royal Portrush shouldn’t be accused of impunity. It punished plenty, and it was impartial to the names on the caddie bib. McIlroy shot 79. Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman were just one shot better. Phil Mickelson shot 76. Among the players who shot 74 were Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and defending champion Francesco Molinari. The field’s scoring average on the par-71 track was approximately 73 strokes. “You couldn’t rely on getting (shots) back,â€� Scott said after making just one birdie Thursday. “There wasn’t birdie opportunities out there unless you hit a really great shot.â€� Throw in some trademark Open weather and Thursday offered a thorough examination. “We had a true Irish day today,â€� said Jordan Spieth, who shot 70. “It was all the seasons in one day, which is kind of cool to play The Open in that situation on such a beautiful track.â€� The claret jug isn’t handed out until Sunday, but Royal Portrush won on Thursday.
