British Open golf: Thomas steadies ship in wind and rain

Troon (Scotland), July 18

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Justin Thomas is off to another great start for the second straight week in Scotland, even if his British Open score doesn’t look that way. He began the opening round today with a 3-under 68 that set an early target and left him satisfied. Never mind that 62 he had a week ago in the Scottish Open. Royal Troon required hard work, and with just enough rain and plenty of wind, the links along the Ayrshire coast showed it was capable of punishing players without notice.

Thomas was not immune. He was one of three players who reached 4-under among the early starters and had the wind at his back for the inward-nine at Troon. And then, his tee shot landed in a bush that required a penalty drop and he missed a 4-foot putt and made double-bogey.

His next drive took a wild hop into grass so deep his caddie called out to the gallery, “Last call. Anyone see the other ball to the right?”

They eventually found it, but it led to bogey. “A little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back-nine but stayed patient,” Thomas said.

Indeed, Thomas managed to keep it together. He avoided another bogey with a 12-foot par putt and finished with a 6-iron to 8 feet for birdie on the 17th and a birdie on the 18th that showed how much wind was helping — 4-iron off the tee, wedge into 25 feet on the 458-yard closing hole.

Sharma shoots 76

India’s Shubhankar Sharma opened his campaign with a disastrous 5-over 76.

The performance will make his task of celebrating his 28th birthday with a final round rather difficult. Two birdies against seven bogeys meant he was way behind among the 156 starters. Yet, he was ahead of the likes of world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (7-over) and No. 11 Indian-American Sahith Theegala (6-over). — Agencies