Scheffler recovers awry ball in first round of Open Championship - ESPN

SOUTHPORT, England — When world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler found his ball in the heavy rough right of the 17th fairway in Thursday's opening round of the 154th Open Championship, he hoped somebody had stepped on it.

Scheffler had pushed his approach shot from 253 yards badly right, and his ball was underneath a wire and buried in the heavy grass at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

«I'm hoping somebody stepped on it, but nobody would fess up,» Scheffler said, after posting a 2-under 68, which put him in a tie for 10th after the early wave. «Apparently, nobody did. It was just one of those things.»

Scheffler said he considered taking a one-shot penalty for an unplayable lie but decided to take a whack at it.

«I was just shocked at how deep the ball was in that grass,» Scheffler said. «It looked like a lot of good spots around there, and then all of a sudden you get to one area where my ball is. I didn't think I was going to be able to get the ball out of the grass that it was sitting in but was able to get it out.»

His third shot skipped across the fairway. He ended up making a bogey on the par-5 17th, which played as the easiest hole on Thursday.

«Just one of those deals,» Scheffler said. «Sometimes, you hit it over there and you get a clean lie and you're able to give yourself a look, and then other times like today, you pay a pretty severe price. But I guess don't hit it offline.»

All in all, it was a good start for the defending Open Championship winner, who was coming off his first missed cut in nearly four years at last week's Scottish Open.

Scheffler started out hot with birdies on four of the first six holes to grab the early lead at 4-under. He made a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 2, a 7½-footer on No. 3, a 4½-footer on