Phil Mickelson was looking for an open leadership while sleeping

Portrush, Northern Ireland – it may be suitable that Thursday leaders of the Open Championship would be men of a certain year.

After all, the open is the oldest of the great championships of the golf – a tournament that is so permeated in the history of sport that it often serves as a proxy for it. So that the light yellow space shops can absorb sepia colors for at least a few minutes on Thursday morning at Royal Portrush? Well, that would serve so little more than a real tip of golf past.

But it was expected To see the names that climbed over the east coast of the United States on Thursday morning, did the sun rose over the east coast of the United States? No, no, it wasn't.

If you have decided on sleep instead of a Middle-of Night-Wakeupe, you will find your summary of what you missed at the Open Championship on Thursday, starting with the man at the head of the board: Phil Mickelson.

5 things you missed on the open Thursday

5. Phil Mickelson (short) took the lead

Yes, The Phil Mickelson, the 55-year-old winner of Majors and Gauter and Shadow. After a discouraging start in his main major MCS in each of his three main start-ups, Phil on Thursday at Open Hot, Birdies made two seven holes and climbed to get a short shimmer and got up to the solo opening round.

Mickelson's game did not seem to be a natural fit for Royal Portrush, where the goals are tight and the punishment for off-center hits are steep. But he arrived in Northern Ireland on Thursday with a steam head and used the dry conditions of the morning to keep things between the goal posts and on the few occasions that he did not miss to escape the disaster.

He faded a little when he turned the cover into a middle and six-holes that largely played into the gusts and fell from two to minus one, but his performance in the early journey easily puts him in line to achieve his best big goal of 2025.

4. Lee Westwood too

For a few minutes, the top of the Royal Portrush ranking suffered an attack by Liv's older statesmen, with Lee Westwood fell for the tournament for three under and briefly into the solo leadership itself.

Westwood's performance at Open Championship on Thursday morning was particularly impressive, considering that it was also his first big championship appearance for more than three years. The 52 -year -old Westwood had not played in a major since his departure for LIV in the summer of 2022. He disappeared in St. Andrews with a T34 finish in St. Andrews and only reappeared in Northern Ireland at the beginning of this week. Now his week has a hot start.

3. A turbulent start for the children of the hometown

Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington were two thirds of the first group on Thursday at the open championship and served the somewhat ceremonial honor to meet the opening T shots at an open championship in Northern Ireland. Neither of them found themselves on many selections to win the tournament, but both were hoping that a golf nation on Sunday was rooted by their own on the route. The following hours gave good and poorly in equal parts.

We will start with Harrington, who recorded the first bird of the tournament on his opening hole, but after a handful of Bogeys during the Mitte-Six holes, including one back double on 10 a.m.

In the meantime, McKibbin started slowly and recorded two bogeys on his first three holes in front of two birdies and one eagle in the middle of the middle. A few more bogeys even got him on the way for the week, but the youngest participant in the Northern Ireland in the field still has a lot of reason to hope when he turns for the home route at Portrush.

2. A bad opening hole

Golffans are already familiar with Royal Portrush's opening hole: It was famous for Rory Mcilroy's opening round at the open 2019 openings, which led to a tournament opening 8 that tended his hometown dreams in the wrong direction.

During the first game on Thursday, the first claimed a handful of victim. The US Ryder Cup hopes, Ben Griffin, pumped his first tee of the last major of the year on Thursday morning.

According to a report by Brad Faxon by Golf Channel, Mcilroy missed the first fairway on the 1st hole this week in each of his exercise rounds. His 3:10 p.m. T-shirt time (10:10 a.m. ET) On Thursday, one of the most viewed opening holes of the high season will be.

1. The reigning champion invites you to

On Thursday, both incumbent winners at Portrush share the top accounting of the Morgenwelle, 2024 Open Champ Xander Schauffele and the winner of the 2019 Open winner, Shane Lowry, in consecutive groups to start the campaign.

At Portrush, Schauffele deserves awe of the crowds and for a good reason: he plays a coarse -grained style that corresponds to an open winner. But don't make a mistake, Lowry is the center of adoration of the gallery a child of the hometown, which in 2019 delivered one of the great golf moments of all time in Ireland. The crowds were at a dizzying decibel level when he arrived in the 1st tea box, and it is prompted to think about how they arrived from the state parliament from the state parliament from the country parliament on Sunday afternoon.

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