Graeme McDowell admits he would love to be a part of the 153rd Open Championship in Royal Portrush and feast on Rory McIlroy mania as a grand slam winner and Shane Lowry’s return as Open champion.
McDowell, who hails from Portrush and has the new 7th hole named after him on the Valley course, hasn’t played in an Open since it was last held in Portrush in 2019 and he will be attempting to qualify via Final Qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports next month.
G Mac’s form appears to be improving, he gave US Open qualifying a good run during the week while four-under 68 at LIV Golf Virginia has him in contention.
“With The Open going back to Royal Portrush this year, it’s been a big focus,” said McDowell. “I went to Macao chasing a few of those spots, didn’t get it done there. Like you said, I’ll play Dallas and fly straight to London, and I’ll go down to the qualifier. I’m going to Royal Cinque Ports on the Tuesday right after Dallas. Maybe not the best prep in the world coming from Dallas to London, but I’ll be pretty fired up.
“It was a dream come true to be there in ’19. The RBC Canadian Open is this week. I qualified via the RBC Canadian Open in ’19 to get into The Open. Obviously I’ll go to Cinque Ports, and it will be a big day for me. I’m excited. It will certainly be bittersweet to not be there, but I’ll definitely be giving it my full attention and be trying hard.
“It would be amazing. I mean, it’s going to be, with everything that Rory’s done this year, with Shane being the defending champion, to go back to Portrush, it’s going to be a special week. It goes without saying that I’d love to be a part of it.”
A 107-minute weather delay late Friday afternoon was the perfect jumpstart to Bryson DeChambeau’s opening round at LIV Golf Virginia presented by Maaden.
The Crushers GC captain’s first shot after the resumption of play at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club was a chip-in for eagle at the par-5 14th. He followed with a birdie at the 15th and then chipped in again for birdie at the 16th en route to a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer.
“You come back from a rain delay and usually think you’re going to try and slowly get into a flow,” said DeChambeau, who was 1 under and tied for 18th when play was suspended. “I came out hot.”
DeChambeau has been hot all season, with a win at LIV Golf’s most recent event in Korea, and top-5 finishes in each of his last five starts, including the season’s first two majors. He’s looking to maintain that form heading into next week’s title defense at the U.S. Open.
Kaymer, meanwhile, has been seeking a competitive form for most of this season, with five of his seven results outside the top 40. But he was solid all day Friday while grabbing a share of the lead for the first time after any LIV Golf round since last year’s opening round in Houston. He hit 50% of his fairways, which tied for 10th best in the field at a challenging driving course, and he tied for the field best in putting average.
“I know I’m good enough. I know I can play good golf,” said the two-time major winner, who had two separate streaks of three consecutive birdies Friday. “I’ve proven many, many times in my career. But you need to continue hitting fairways, and that was the downside for me the past few months. I was missing so many fairways. Today, the game is there.”
The game was certainly there for Ollie Schniederjans in a spectacular performance as a reserve player for RangeGoats GC.
RangeGoats starter Matthew Wolff was forced to withdraw with an injury after playing his first eight holes at even par. Schniederjans immediately took his spot to finish the round. His first hole was a birdie at the 18th, and he added two more birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes
The Wolff/Schniederjans score only counts for the team, but the 67 was the RangeGoats’ best score as they grabbed a two-shot lead in the team competition at 9 under. Captain Bubba Watson and teammate Peter Uihlein pitched in with 68s, while Ben Campbell shot 72 in his first start after missing Korea with a wrist injury.
Chasing the leaders are six players tied at 4 under: captains Jon Rahm (Legion XIII), Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC) and Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers GC), along with Smash GC’s McDowell, Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman and Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri.
“I think I should be pleased with how comfortable and how well I played today,” said Rahm, the reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion.
Mickelson shot his lowest opening round relative to par in his last 16 LIV Golf starts as he continues to enjoy his best form since joining the league as an original member. “I’m having a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s really fun. I’m starting to play well.”
McDowell produced one of just two bogey-free rounds on the day. “Solid day,” he said. “I’ve been working pretty hard on my game the last few weeks. I’ve really been feeling it trending in the right direction.”
Few players are trending better than DeChambeau, who acknowledged that his hot finish was helped by the softer conditions after the resumption of play.
“That little chip shot became a helluva lot easier for me,” he said of his eagle. “… I was studying it before I left. It was like, this looks perfect. Came out, still looks perfect. Hit it exactly where I wanted it to land, and it went right in the frickin’ hole.”
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