The Open Championship is famous for a number of things, such as the Claret Jug, links golf and the iconic yellow leaderboard that adorns the final hole.
At the 152nd edition of the tournament, the weather was far from kind on the first day, but it seemed that those tuning into Royal Troon were far more concerned, and annoyed, elsewhere, as the colors used on the leaderboards seemed to wind up a number of individuals...
When it comes to scoring, television crews will often use different colors on the leaderboard to differentiate the scores on separate holes. Usually, yellow is for an eagle, red for a birdie, par is left colorless and bogeys are light blue etc.
However, in the early stages of The Open's broadcast, eagle-eyed viewers were quick to notice a minimal change, as the scoring on the leaderboard showed a blue background as a par and a black background as a bogey... This may not sound like a big deal, but to those who follow the game regularly, it might take some getting used to!
For those awake nice and early, some voiced their disdain on X/Twitter, as No Laying Up tweeted: "I don't wanna be too dramatic here, but blue squares for pars is unhinged behavior," whilst another user wrote: "The colours on these scorecards at The Open are all wrong. So confusing having pars in blue".
I don't wanna be too dramatic here, but blue squares for pars is unhinged behavior. pic.twitter.com/Plw1FDOTgqJuly 18, 2024
Wait how are pars blue but doubles are dark blue? https://t.co/ujR2D0M9rQ pic.twitter.com/sZfhZa1sKBJuly 18, 2024
The colours on these scorecards at The Open are all wrong. So confusing having pars in blueJuly 18, 2024
Such an easy fix too. pic.twitter.com/9sNoAo2zdtJuly 18, 2024
It's really really bad. Needs changing asap looks awful.July 18, 2024
We must note that, if you are put off by a different shade of color being used, then The Open's website is currently showing a leaderboard that traditionalists would love. On the site, birdies are their normal red, whilst a dark blue is used for the pars and a grey for a bogey.
Anyway, enough about the color chart and into the action at Royal Troon where, midway through the morning wave, Justin Thomas led following a three-under-par front nine of 33. Following the score, the American then birdied the 10th to get to four-under, with Thomas leading the likes of Justin Rose and Adam Scott in the early stages.
Amongst the big names, Rory McIlroy began his round with a bogey, but did birdie the third to get back to level-par. There was also good starts of Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland, whilst Bryson DeChambeau bogeyed three of his first four holes in a poor start.
