Victor Perez, the only French representative at the British Open, returned Thursday a first card of -1 which he is "very happy" and which allows him to be in the game for this start of the tournament.

For his part, the Northern Irishman McIlroy ended the first day with a -6 which ranks him second, two shots behind the American leader Cameron Young (-8), author of a clear round and decorated with eight birdies.

The American Cameron Young, at the start of the 18th hole, during the 1st round of the British Open, on July 14, 2022 on the course of Saint Andrews (Scotland) Glyn KIRK AFP

"It's a fantastic start, just what you want when you start" a tournament, said McIlroy.

"I took the birdies on the holes where they are doable and I ensured the par on the holes where we hope to make the par and move on."

Since the 2014 PGA Championship, he has not won a Major, but remains on excellent first rounds this year at the PGA Championship and the US Open where he did not however convert the try into the title.

This time, he insisted, "it must be confirmed on Friday" in the second round.

"Not perfect"

For his part, Cameron Young felt "not having had a perfect round", even if he did not concede the slightest bogey, believing he could do better from the tee.

The Australian Cameron Smith completes the very provisional podium with three strokes (-5), then a group of nine players points to -4, among which the English amateur Barclay Brown, the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, the world N.1 Scottie Scheffler and fellow American Dustin Johnson.

On the contrary, if Woods is working better, it was his game that faltered on Thursday: after the first seven holes, the American was at +6 (with two double bogeys) and the three-time winner of The Open (including twice at Saint Andrews) failed to improve his card on the next eleven holes.

At 14 shots from Young, he is ranked among the last.

American Tiger Woods tries an approach from the rough on the 12th hole, during the 1st round of the British Open, on July 14, 2022 on the course of Saint Andrews (Scotland) Andy Buchanan AFP

In total, around a third of the field finished under par on this opening lap where the Old Course proved vulnerable but not docile.

"There's a -8, a -6, a -5 … It's not like it's a general firework, tempered McIlroy. It's not that easy, it's still tricky with the positions of the flags. And I think they will hide the flags even better so that the approaches are even more complicated."

Traffic jam in the cradle

The venerable Old Course, cradle of golf, has shown another of its limitations: its layout where some greens are shared and often reachable in one shot, some fairways are common, and some holes intersect (like the 7-8- 9-10-11 to turn around and return to the clubhouse), creates traffic jams and long waits for the players, especially before the cut, when there are a total of 156 on the course from 6:35 a.m. to almost 10:00 p.m.

At the end of the day on Thursday, three games stretched out on hole 14: that of Padraig Harrington was on the green, that of Tiger Woods on the fairway and that of Jordan Spieth was waiting at the tee.

"It's like that in Saint Andrews, we know it," admitted McIlroy who himself was blocked during his game.

"Fortunately, it accelerates during the weekend when there are only two balls left (two players instead of three during the first two rounds)", he underlined.

To spice up the rest of the tournament, players from the dissident circuit LIV are also in the race: Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood are four shots (-4), Ian Poulter and Bryson DeChambeau at five (-3).

The organizers of The Open do not intend to exclude players from LIV next year, but they still risk not qualifying if the criteria are not changed.

To date, the world rankings are taken into account – but LIV players risk being deprived of them – or qualifying tournaments on the PGA and European circuits, from which LIV players are excluded.

© 2022 AFP