It is a tale of two major tournaments for Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy.
After an epic duel between the two that saw DeChambeau take home his second U.S. Open championship last month, the British Open has been much a different story.
After a rough first round at Royal Troon on Thursday, the first- and second-place finishers from the U.S. Open are now just fighting to make the cut.
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McIlroy shot a 78, his worst opening round in a major in five years, finding himself 7-over par.
DeChambeau did not record a hole under par until the 16th hole, where he nailed a 55-foot eagle putt, the lone bright spot of his day. He would end up with a 76, 5-over par.
The reigning U.S. Open champion is looking forward to getting back at it on Friday.
“I’m just proud of the way I persevered today,” DeChambeau said. “Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, ‘I’m going home.’ But no, I’ve got a chance tomorrow. I’m excited for the challenge.”
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After his press conference, DeChambeau went out to the range to try and figure out his equipment after a “weird” day.
Following McIlroy’s defeat in the U.S. Open, where he missed both a 30-inch and four-foot putt on the 16th and 18th holes, he said he was going to take some time off before coming back. Last week at the Scottish Open – his first appearance since Pinehurst – he finished tied for fourth.
The 35-year-old Northern Irishman was looking to build on the positive momentum, but that plan was foiled by the weather.
“When you get a wind you haven’t played in, it starts to present different options and you start to think about maybe hitting a few clubs that you haven’t hit in practice,” McIlroy said. “Just one of those days where I just didn’t adapt well enough to the conditions.”
“I have to do a better job in those conditions, and I need to go out there and play better and try to shoot something under par and at least be here for the weekend, if not try to put myself up the leaderboard a bit more and feel like I have half a chance.”
McIlroy was 12 strokes behind the leader when he went into the clubhouse.
DeChambeau will tee off at 9:48 a.m. EST Friday, while McIlroy will tee off at 10:10 a.m. EST.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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