The British Open: The good, the bad and the damn right ugly

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The British Open got under way at Royal Troon in Scotland on Thursday. Matt Smith looks at the good, the bad and the ugly statistics from the first round.

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14 – An ace beginning

Louis Oosthuizen hit the first hole-in-one at the 145th running of the event at the par-3 14th hole. The South African aced the hole with a tee shot which was straight at the flag. It dropped right in front of the hole and plopped in.

8 – Punishing

Poor Scott Gregory. The 21-year-old English amateur was four under through 10 at Royal Troon with eight holes to play, and vying for the lead at the top of the leaderboard. Then came triple-bogey, bogey, triple-bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey, double-bogey, bogey. He finished seven over.

377 – Go the distance

The par-4 third hole is 377 yards. The American two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson managed to fire his monster drive over the hole and the group ahead on the green watched as his ball trickled past them. He was apologetic but also smiling later as he holed out for eagle.

85 – Long day for Lyle

Scotland’s former Open and Masters champion Sandy Lyle had what he described as a “yucky” day. He shot a 14-over-par 85 to sit last in the field when he entered the clubhouse. “My irons were awful and I didn’t make any putts,” he said. “It was just one of those yucky days.”

30 – Nine of the best

South Africa’s Haydn Porteous lit up the outward nine with an impressive 30, featuring two birdies and two eagles to temporarily take the outright lead. Porteous, 22, is ranked 249th in the world and qualified for The Open by winning the Joburg Open in January.