🏌🏻DeChambeau Follows In Messi's Footsteps

Good morning! Round 2 of The Open Championship is in progress and it’s only getting worse for Tiger Woods - he currently sits 12-over par and will most certainly miss the cut.

It isn’t looking too good for Rory McIlroy either - you can watch all the action live on the USA TV Network and Peacock.

Fun Fact: Daniel Brown is the first player in men’s major championship history to shoot a bogey-free 65 or lower in his first career major round.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1964, Bobby Nichols won the 46th PGA Championship at Columbus Country Club in Ohio. His nine-under 271 total beat a pair of heavyweights by three, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Nichols led from wire to wire.

ALBATROSS
Brutal Weather Causes Havoc At Royal Troon

The 152nd Open Championship got off to a crazy as brutal winds caused havoc at Royal Troon. Daniel Brown, who is making his major championship debut, managed to get a grip of the conditions though and shot 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Shane Lowry.

PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele (69) and Masters champ Scottie Scheffler (70) are lurking as they attempt to win a second major this season while US Open champ Bryson DeChambeau (76) struggled.

📌 JT In Contention: Justin Thomas, who was the 18-hole leader last week at the Scottish Open, sits just three shots back of the leader at Royal Troon. While his driving got a bit loose at times - specifically early in his back nine - his tee to green play overall was terrific.

There is a long way to go though, and it's been a few years since Thomas put together four great rounds consecutively at a big event.

👀 Scheffler Lurking: Scottie Scheffler's work off the tee was exquisite, holding balls against the wind and controlling everything quite well. His approach play was pretty good too.

You can just sense that a signature late surge is on the cards.

🌦️ Brutal Conditions: After blowing mainly from the northwest and west during the practice days, the wind changed direction on Thursday morning, coming from the south and even briefly from the southeast. As a result, the usually easier front nine played into a consistent 10-15 mph fan.

The flip in wind direction had a drastic effect on scoring - the front nine score across all players on Day 1 was 305 over par.

⛳️ The Postage Stamp Terror: The par-3 8th hole js 123 yards of pure terror, especially if you miss the green and find one of its diabolical bunkers as Rory McIlroy did. He wasn't alone - Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa, both top six in the world, made doubles too.

JT, Adam Scott and Shane Lowry were some of the notables who made a birdie at the famed pint-sized par 3.

🚩 Stars Sweating Cutline: After 36 holes at Royal Troon, the low 70 players and ties will make the cut and compete in the final two rounds in Scotland. The cut is projected at 3 over with 81 players in position to play the weekend.

Star players including Ludvig Aberg (+4), DeChambeau (+5), McIlroy (+7), Wyndham Clark (+7) and Tiger Woods (+8) are all in danger of missing the weekend.

Watch Round 1 Highlights

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
DeChambeau Follows In Messi's Footsteps

Bryson DeChambeau has celebrated his US Open triumph by splashing out on a 24-carat gold phone worth a staggering $10,000. The Samsung device, a creation of iDesign Gold, was delivered to the 30 year old while he was participating in a tournament in Andalucia and boasts the engraving 'US OPEN CHAMPION BRYSON DECHAMBEAU 2024' on its back.

With career earnings reportedly exceeding $65million, DeChambeau can certainly afford such lavish indulgences. In a similar vein, soccer superstar Lionel Messi treated himself and his team after Argentina's 2022 World Cup win.

iDesign Gold, the luxury tech company, boasts a star-studded clientele including UFC champion Conor McGregor, football legend Messi, and golfers DeChambeau and Mickelson.

📍DeChambeau Blames Equipment For Poor Performance: Bryson DeChambeau believes his equipment was to blame for his error-strewn opening round at Royal Troon, with his chances of winning The Open hanging by a thread.

He claims that the golf ball isn't reaching 190mph ball speed, especially when he's using the driver or 3-wood, noting that these clubs are designed for speeds around 190mph. He added that his 3-wood achieves approximately 180mph, emphasizing that in colder and firmer conditions, the golf ball doesn't compress as effectively.

Despite grumbling about his clubs and golf balls, the LIV Golf admitted he came up short against a stern test of links golf on Thursday. He finished Round 1 at 5-over par and needs a good second round to make it to the weekend.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

LPGA Tour: Hye-Jin Choi birdied her final two holes for a 7-under 64 and a one-stroke lead at the Dana Open.

DP World Tour: Ben Silverman racked up seven birdies over his final nine holes to shoot a plus-19 and take the first-round lead at the Barracuda Championship. In this event, Birdies are worth two points, eagles are worth five and albatrosses are worth eight.

Experiment:The R&A continues to experiment with its direct-to-consumer approach by streaming the Open Championship behind a paywall in 20 countries where there is little demand for the rights.

PGA Tour: Daniel Brown is the surprise Round 1 leader at The Open Championship - here's everything you need to know about him.

BIRDIE
These Stars Made Gear Changes To Counter Challenges @ The Open

Firm links turf, deep pot bunkers and a pretty stiff breeze - the players will face conditions unlike what they play in for the majority of the year at The Open. Hence, a lot of players made gear changes ahead of the Major - we take a look at some of them.

🏌️Tiger Woods: Woods has played his famous Scotty Cameron blade style putter for many years now but due to the greens running a little slower than usual and some inclement weather expected, Woods has added some lead tape to the back of his putter.

He has also added a new driver head into the bag this week - a 9° TaylorMade Qi10 LS head.

🏌️Collin Morikawa: Morikawa tested a secret new prototype 3-iron before eventually settling into a slightly more forgiving P.790 3-iron that’s actually been bent to 19° to play more like a 2-iron.

🏌️Shane Lowry: The firm turf at Royal Troon has seen Lowry tinkering with new Cleveland wedges with much lower bounce, meaning the leading edge will sit closer to the tight turf and allow the club to slide under the ball a little easier.

🏌️Brooks Koepka: After switching into a Scotty Cameron 5.5 Tour Only putter at the Masters this year and having kept it in the bag since, Koepka has reverted back to his trusted Scotty Cameron Teryllium bladed putter.

🏌️Tommy Fleetwood: While Fleetwood has gamed his 9-wood for the majority of the PGA Tour season, he’s elected to swap this trusty weapon out for a P.7CB 3-iron to help keep the launch and spin down and hit those stingers into the wind we love to watch on the tracer!

Read the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
Hit Better Chip Shots

In today's video, we show you an easy way to hit better chip shots.

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