PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — A glance at the first round Thursday of the British Open at Royal Portrush:
LEADING: J.B. Holmes with a 5-under 66.
TRAILING: Shane Lowry had a 67, while 13 players were at 68.
LOCAL FAVORITES: Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot out of bounds and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on his way to a 79. Darren Clarke shot an even-par 71, while Graeme McDowell made a triple bogey on the final hole to shoot 73.
TIGER TALES: Tiger Woods shot a 78, his worst start in the British Open and third-worst score in a major championship.
RORY'S ROUGH START: McIlroy's 79 beat only five other players in the 156-man field.
BEST HOLE: Emiliano Grillo had a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th.
HISTORIC: It was the first time the British Open has been played in Ireland since 1951, the only other time it has been played outside of England and Scotland.
NOTABLE: Ryan Fox was 10 shots better on the back nine with a 29, the first player in British Open history to break 30 on the back nine.
QUOTEABLE: "Actually I had two glasses of wine last night, but nothing else. I was very sensible last night. I didn't think this was a good tee time to miss." — Darren Clarke, who lives in Portrush and was chosen to hit the opening tee shot.
TELEVISION: Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. (Golf Channel).
