ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The Latest on the British Open (all times local):
10:40 a.m.
In his debut outing at the British Open, Joohyung Kim is having fun. Even Rory McIlroy loved the opening hole at St. Andrews.
Kim, a 20-year-old South Korean, shared the lead with Min Woo Lee of Australia and Cameron Young of the United States when they all reached the turn at 4 under par.
Kim demonstrated his preference for links courses last week by placing third in the Scottish Open. In the last round, he briefly had the lead.
In his distinctive brown-and-yellow clothing, McIlroy, who is attempting to win his first major championship since 2014, stood out and started his round by making a putt from more than 50 feet for a birdie.
9:30 a.m.
At the British Open, Ian Poulter is providing his customary amount of drama, and everything is going well.
The flashy Englishman nearly stepped outside of the playing area as he started his round. He finished the front nine by sinking a 50-yard putt for an eagle 2 from the other side of the ninth green to complete the round.
Poulter is already at 3 under par, equal with Brandon Wu among the early starters.
Alex Noren and Justin Rose, who were both eliminated from the British Open, will both play this week, but only one of them. After taking a swing with his driver in practice on Wednesday, Rose claims he had lower back pain. He had planned to go to the range on Thursday morning but changed his mind.
As a first alternate earlier in the week, Noren was at St. Andrews. He ultimately left for California to compete in the PGA Tour competition, forfeiting his berth at St. Andrews.
8:40 a.m.
Due to a back issue, Justin Rose has withdrawn from the British Open.
Japanese field replacement Rikuya Hoshino has taken his position.
The No. 50-ranked Rose seemed to be experiencing back pain when he left the practice round on Wednesday.
In 1998, Rose competed as an amateur and tied for fourth place. The Englishman placed in the top 10 in the Open twice more, in 2015 and 2018.
6:45 a.m.
The British Open champion received the silver claret jug for the first time 150 years ago. The oldest golf competition got underway there on the first tee at St. Andrews on Thursday morning.
The 1999 Open winner from Scotland, Paul Lawrie, was chosen to fire the first shot of this historic week at the birthplace of golf, which is all about the 150th edition. He hit a yellow golf ball, which landed on the broad fairway. When the British Open got underway at Prestwick in 1860, the gutta-percha golf ball was the preferred option.
The 150th Open makes up for the tournament being postponed due to two world wars, one epidemic, and one other event. Since Young Tom Morris had won the Open the year before for the third time in a row, it was not held in 1871. That indicated that he had obtained the champion's belt. That is the original British Open trophy.
The Open was at a turning point at the time. It was determined that Prestwick, St. Andrews, and Musselburgh would alternate hosting the championship. It was already too late to play in 1871 by the time they resolved the issue. The claret jug was chosen as the new award.
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