A trio of Englishmen made very good begins to the 153rd Open Championship on a rain-lashed opening morning at Royal Portrush in Northern Eire.

Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick slam-dunked a chip for birdie on the notoriously troublesome par-three sixteenth to affix unheralded Dane Jacob Skov Olesen and China’s Li Haotong within the lead on 4 underneath par.

Matthew Jordan briefly reached that quantity however is one again after a 68, whereas Lee Westwood, who completed fourth when The Open final visited this course in 2019, is in a gaggle at two underneath.

World primary Scottie Scheffler, who seemed like he was not notably having fun with the stormy climate, and hit simply three out of 14 fairways, had two late birdies to affix Jordan on three underneath.

The American was taking part in with Eire’s Shane Lowry, who received right here amid tumultuous scenes in 2019 and posted a gap 70.

Defending champion Xander Schauffele had three bogeys and three birdies in a level-par 71, whereas Spain’s Jon Rahm was one higher off.

Dwelling favorite Rory McIlroy, who famously hit his opening shot out of bounds six years in the past, prevented the identical destiny this 12 months however is among the many later starters and teed off at 15:10 BST, alongside 2019 runner-up Tommy Fleetwood.

The climate was dry as they headed out however extra rain is forecast to hit the Antrim coast.