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As it happenedended

The Open 2019 LIVE leaderbord: Rory McIlroy nine off lead as Shane Lowry leads the way and Tiger Woods begins

Follow the latest scores from the 148th Open Championship as the final major of the year returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years

Tom Kershaw
Royal Portrush
Thursday 18 July 2019 15:27 BST
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The Open Championship in numbers

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Follow the latest scores from The Open live as the first day at Royal Portrush gets underway.

The 148th Open Championship returns to Northern Ireland for only the second time in the tournament’s grand history, 68 years after first visiting Portrush in 1951, and features a heavily-packed Irish contingent of Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and plenty others.

But a number of Americans arrive at the final major of the year heading the pecking order, with Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods both hotly fancied after their recent form – the former unstoppable in majors over the last two years and latter claiming his 15th major at the Masters.

But there are plenty of other names in the mix from closer to home, with former world No 1 Justin Rose and in-form Englishman Matt Wallace among those to watch, while Jon Rahm is expected to challenge for his first major victory.

Follow the live scores below.

Latest updates

Please allow a moment for the leaderboard to load.

2nd hole

A poor up and down means Mickelson (evs) settles for par on the second. 

5th hole

Alexander Levy (-1) finally gets one to drop and he moves under par for his round.

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:28

1st hole

Garcia (evs) misses out on an opening birdie by a few inches. 

3rd hole

Bubba (evs) starts his round steadily with three pars on the bounce. The same can't be said of Cabrera Bello (+2) who is 2-over thru three.

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:33

Leaderboard Update

Nine players under par so far. Darren Clarke and Romain Langasque lead the way at 2-under with a hunting pack of seven just a shot behind:

Clarke -2 thru 8

Langasque -2 thru 4

Sugrue (a) -1 thru 8

Hoffman -1 thru 8

Levy -1 thru 6

Harrington -1 thru 4

Pepperell -1 thru 3

Lowry -1 thru 3

Noren -2 thru 2

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:39

Rough going

It's quite evident already that hitting the fairways is a must. Any deviation off the tee and you're in trouble. 

The rough is long and brutal and finding it means dropping a shot looks likely.

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:41

On the tee

Andrew 'Beef' Johnston gets underway with an arrow straight drive down the fairway. The Englishman is a great character on the European tour and could go well this week. 

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:43

4th hole

Eddie Pepperell joins the leaders at 2-under with a birdie three on the fourth. 

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:45

On the range 

Rory McIlroy goes through a few putting drills on the practice green. He'll be out on the course at 10:09am

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:47

1st hole

Welcome to the club Robert MacIntyre. The Scot birdies the first hole to become the tenth player under par.

It's a par start for Beef (evs).

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:49

4th hole

Phil Mickelson (+1) drops a shot on the fourth and moves down the leaderboard.

5th hole

Harrington (-1) leaves himself with a get-able birdie putt after a booming drive and a delicate second on the fifth. 

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:55

Front Nine

The opening group complete the front nine with only two bogeys between them. Darren Clarke (-2) leads the way with a front nine 34 but James Sugrue (a) (-1) and Charley Hoffman (-1) are both playing well going out in 35.

Michael Jones18 July 2019 08:58

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