{"id":109559,"date":"2019-07-19T01:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=109559"},"modified":"2019-07-18T14:15:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T21:15:04","slug":"open-championship-holmes-shoots-5-under-grabs-first-round-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/open-championship-holmes-shoots-5-under-grabs-first-round-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"J.B. Holmes Shoots 5-Under, Grabs First Round Lead at the Open Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

J.B. Holmes shot a 5-under-par 66 to take the early lead after the first round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"British
J.B. Holmes shot a 66 to grab the lead after the first-round at the Open Championship. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holmes holds a one-shot advantage over Ireland\u2019s Shane Lowry, with more than a dozen players including betting favorite Brooks Koepka<\/a> tied for third at 3-under.<\/p>\n

Holmes Has Previous Open Championship Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Holmes wasn\u2019t pegged as a likely winner heading into the British Open, his early success has seen his odds tighten to 33\/1 at William Hill. But while the world at large might be surprised to see him near the leaderboard after missing seven consecutive cuts earlier this season, Holmes says he came into the tournament feeling like he could perform well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been practicing the last couple of weeks. I\u2019ve been playing great,\u201d Holmes said after the first round. \u201cSo actually, I felt great coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes has had success at the Open Championship before. Back in 2016, he finished third in the event, behind only winner Henrik Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a great week for me,\u201d Holmes said of that experience. \u201cSo that\u2019s definitely a boost. I learned a lot playing in that event.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy, Woods Struggle at British Open<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The opening round didn\u2019t go nearly as well for two of the biggest names in the field. Rory McIlroy shot a 79, virtually playing himself out of contention on Thursday. The round started with a quadruple-bogey on the first hole, and finished with a triple-bogey on the last, meaning the pre-tournament favorite \u2013 now listed at 200\/1 to win \u2013 will have his work cut out for him just to make the cut.<\/p>\n

It was obviously a disappointing day,\u201d McIlroy said afterwards. \u201cI didn\u2019t put it in the fairway enough to play. I kept saying that in the [Wednesday] press conference, \u2018You need to put the ball in the fairway here if you want to do well,\u2019 and I didn\u2019t do that enough today to create enough scoring opportunities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tiger Woods<\/a> (250\/1) had nearly as bad a start, posting a 78 on Thursday. It\u2019s his worst first round ever at the British Open, and Woods appeared to be struggling with physical issues throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just not moving as well as I\u2019d like,\u201d Woods remarked after the round. \u201cAnd unfortunately, you\u2019ve got to be able to move, and especially under these conditions, shape the golf ball. And I didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day wasn\u2019t bad for everyone, however, as 42 players managed to post scores below par despite the windy and sometimes rainy conditions.<\/p>\n

Koepka Now Favored to Win at Portrush <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chief among those is Koepka, who is just two shots off the lead. With McIlroy out of contention already, Koepka has become the clear favorite, with William Hill now posting him as a 7\/2 pick to win the tournament heading into Friday\u2019s play.<\/p>\n

\n

The second choice is now Jon Rahm (13\/2), who is also sitting at 3-under par. Tommy Fleetwood (12\/1), Justin Rose (14\/1), and Lowry (16\/1), all of whom are below par after Thursday, round out the top five favorites according to William Hill.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Friday will be a critical day both for those fighting for the lead and those far down in the standings. After the second round, only players who are in the top 70 (including ties) will make the cut and continue on to the final two rounds over the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J.B. Holmes shot a 5-under-par 66 to take the early lead after the first round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Holmes holds a one-shot advantage over Ireland\u2019s Shane Lowry, with more than a dozen players including betting favorite Brooks Koepka tied for third at 3-under. Holmes Has Previous Open Championship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":109560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpen Championship: Holmes Shoots 5-Under, Grabs First Round Lead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Open Championship began on Thursday, with J.B. 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