Ah, the Scottish summer. “I wouldn't say it's warm when you have to wear a beanie in July, but Scottish people consider that a good day,” suggested German golfer, Yannik Paul.
We were just about tempted to get the knotted hankie on the head and bare the legs. At least it was – barring a brief shower – dry for the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open here at the Renaissance.
The lack of any real wind, meanwhile, made the East Lothian links as vulnerable as a newly born gazelle tottering to its feet while a lion lurks in the undergrowth.
The ambush was spearheaded by Justin Thomas, who carded a neatly assembled eight-under 62 to finish a stroke ahead of South Korea’s Sungjae Im, with Swedish Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg on six-under and defending champion Rory McIlroy in a posse on five-under.
In his bid for a first tour victory since the 2022 PGA Championship, this was a telling statement of intent from Thomas.
A birdie putt of some 13-feet on the first hole got him off and running before he upped the ante with four gains on the spin from the fifth.
The 31-year-old picked up another three birdies between the 10th and 13th and all of a sudden the phrase, ‘oooh, he’s on for a 59 here’ drifted around the media centre.
Of course, as soon as someone mutters such a prediction, you know it ain’t going to happen. The birdies dried up, he parred his last five holes and even managed to shank a 3-wood second shot on the par-5 16th. Those golfing gods don’t dish out 59s willy nilly, you know.
Back in 2017, Thomas became the youngest player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59 during the Sony Open in Hawaii. Once he got to eight-under yesterday, the thought of conjuring something similar began to pop into his mind
“Honestly, I thought the par of the course was 71 and then I looked up and saw it was a 70 and I thought, ‘I just need a couple more’,” he said with a wry smile.
“I’m thinking, ‘I can shoot 59’. And then I made five pars in a row, so that kind of p***ed me off as soon as I started thinking about it. I definitely wanted it. But we all know how that works out when you get ahead of yourself.
"This was as easy as you're going to get a links golf course. When you drive it well like I did for the most part today, you have a lot of short clubs, and I was seeing nothing but the pin.”
With a fairly modest record in links golf, Thomas acknowledges that he is still wresting with the vagaries, nuances, quirks and occasional absurdities of this very special type of ball game.
“I think I struggle sometimes with how I feel it's supposed to be played and playing how I want to play it, and just not adjusting,” said the former world No 1. "It’s just so, so, so different to anything we play in the States.”
While Robert MacIntyre’s colourful shirt gained some attention – you can read more about that elsewhere on this page – Thomas’ choice of troosers, with a hint of dark tartan in them, also gathered some intrigued glances. The golf reports were more like a fashion piece in Vanity Fair.
“They’d maybe look a little strange pulling them out in Columbus, Ohio or something in May,” he chuckled. “But I wore them at the Open a couple of years ago and I liked them, so I saved them. I haven't worn them in two years, so I'm glad I brought them back.”
On an opening day of low scoring, McIlroy, who pipped MacIntyre to the title by a shot last year, got his defence off to a purposeful start in his first event since losing the US Open last month.
McIlroy chipped in for an eagle on the third hole, his 12th of the day, and also recorded five birdies, but spurned good chances to make further inroads on three of his last five holes.
“I hit a couple of shots over the first few holes that I haven’t seen in practice over the last 10 days so it was a bit of a reminder that golf isn’t as easy as sometimes I think it is,” McIlroy said of golf’s unfailing ability to flummox.
“But then I really started to feel good. Especially on the front nine, our back nine, I started to hit some good drives, some good iron shots.
“I gave myself plenty of chances on that back nine and actually felt like I left a couple out there as well. Overall, it was a good start, especially after the scrappy start over the first six or seven holes.”
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who lost out in a play-off for this title back in 2020, had his long-term caddie, Ian Finnis, on his bag again after undergoing open heart surgery earlier this year.
The old alliance got back in the swing and Fleetwood’s 65 had him handily placed. “We did a great job and it feels nice to have had a really good round in his first week back, for him more than anything,” said Fleetwood.
"We did a great job. He made a couple of great decisions, so it’s like he’s not been away.”
