Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau at wrong end of Open leaderboard on day one

US Open rivals Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau found themselves together at the wrong end of the leaderboard on day one of the 152nd Open.

A month after McIlroy’s nightmare finish at Pinehurst helped DeChambeau claim a second US Open title, the pair were facing an uphill battle simply to make the cut in the year’s final major at Royal Troon.

McIlroy was level par after seven holes of his opening round before running up a double bogey on the signature par-three eighth, the Northern Irishman’s first attempt to escape a bunker on the Postage Stamp coming back to his feet.

After also dropping a shot on the 10th, McIlroy then carved his tee shot on the difficult 11th out of bounds towards the adjacent railway line, another double bogey dropping him to five over par.

DeChambeau has been in brilliant form in the majors this season, finishing sixth in the Masters and runner-up in the US PGA Championship before edging out McIlroy at Pinehurst thanks to a stunning par save from a bunker on the 72nd hole.

His record in the Open is not so impressive, however, with just one top 10 in six starts and the 30-year-old was competing at Royal Troon for the first time as he only turned professional three months before it last staged the Open in 2016.

DeChambeau acknowledged during practice that the back nine – which is usually played into the wind – “has some teeth” but with the wind switching directions, it was the front nine which caused him all sorts of problems.

Back to even par for Rory McIlroy as he birdies the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/niDNkdqHrW

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2024

After three-putting the first, a wayward drive on the third cost DeChambeau another shot and he also bogeyed the fourth before running up an adventurous