The winds flipped, Royal Troon’s front nine packed an unusual punch and some of the best players in the world couldn’t adjust. Other, of course, did, including Justin Thomas, the clubhouse leader for much of the day.
Here are some of the best quotes from Thursday at The Open:
Justin Thomas (-3)
“I feel like everything has been turning the right way, and I’ve been working on the right things. Just like I said, I haven’t really had much to show for it. That’s just how this game works sometimes. But I know that I’m close the way it is, and I’m just going to keep playing and not play for results, just play for my game, and it’ll take care of itself.”
Justin Rose (-2)
“I think when you come in the first couple of times you play The Open, you’re soaking in the experience. Now you kind of come in, you know what to expect. It’s not like you can just come in 20 years later and go, oh, should be a good week and we’ll just learn from it. It’s a little bit of a ticking clock there just to get the job done at some point. … It’s obvious, isn’t it. 44 soon. History would suggest. But I think The Open offers you that opportunity maybe more than some of the other majors. Yeah, still feel very kind of confident in myself that I can actually still improve tomorrow versus today. As long as that’s the case, I’ll keep kind of believing for sure.”
Xander Schauffele (-2)
“I mean, [Tiger Woods] is only playing major championships. He’s making it as hard on himself as possible, and I know he’s hard on himself too. It’s just hard. I think he’s just learning. He’s got to learn a little bit more about his body, what he can and can’t do. I’m sure he’d like to prep more at home if his body would allow it. This is all stuff -- I’m not sure he tells you guys this stuff or not. But as a tour pro now, I kind of know what goes into it and what needs to be done to play at a high level. If your body is not letting you do it, it’s just frustrating. I’m sure he’s trying to figure that out.”
Adam Scott (-1)
“My game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like I’m controlling the ball well. That’s what you need to do out here, especially if you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances. It’s sometimes easy to scrap it around the links, but you’re not going to hole a lot of 40-footers. So at some point you’re going to need to hit some really quality iron shots from the fairway to get it in close to some tucked pins and give yourself more realistic chances. They’re the guys who are going to be up there at the end of the week.”
Matt Wallace (-1)
“I think I get in my own way sometimes mentally, so I stop myself from allowing my game to come through because I know it’s good enough, and I’ve shown that. I think everyone can see that. But I think everyone would also agree that they see me not getting the full potential out of my game, so I need to figure that out. I’ve been on that for a few years, and it was just at that time, it was just a frustrating thing and an honest thing to say in that situation. … I feel I can be competing for big tournaments. That’s what I feel I can do. I haven’t done that in a long time, so if I can start competing, I’ll be very happy.”
Brooks Koepka (-1)
“Yeah, it’s links golf. It is firm.”
Min Woo Lee (E)
“I tried to sleep at 8 [p.m.]. Went to bed at 8:30. It was early. I can’t complain. I wasn’t even the first group. I was first group one day like a couple years ago at St. Andrews, and that was like a 3 [a.m.] wakeup. I don’t know, it feels illegal.”
Bob MacIntyre (+1)
“The wind, I think a lot of guys had game plans to just send driver the first few holes and to pitch up there today. When it’s straight back into the wind it kind of switches you back into fighting, and it’s difficult. I’m hoping it doesn’t die off later on.”
Jon Rahm (+2)
“I really wanted that last putt. It’s not easy. It’s very difficult out there. Eight out of those first nine holes, all of them are in off the right, playing long, difficult holes. Just when you think it might get a little easier downwind, it really isn’t. The back nine has a lot of teeth, and those par-3s are very, very difficult. There’s not an easy golf course out there. I think I played okay. What I was able to do was make a lot of good par putts that kept the round going, but I didn’t put myself in position enough to maybe make a couple of birdies and shoot somewhere even par, or even 1 under, which would have been a fantastic round.”
Brian Harman (+2)
“It’s kind of like I found it how I left it last year kind of. It’s brutal. Hard golf course.”
Tyrrell Hatton (+2)
“My ball striking day was pretty awful. It’s one of the worst rounds I think I’ve had this year, in terms of how I think I’ve hit the golf ball. It wasn’t a fun experience. Yeah, we’ll try and do better tomorrow.”
Bryson DeChambeau (+5)
“Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, I’m going home. But no, I’ve got a chance tomorrow. I’m excited for the challenge. If I have some putts go in and hit some shots the way I know how to and figure out this equipment stuff, I’ll be good.”
Henrik Stenson (+6)
“I was coming in here unfortunately with pretty low energy, and I didn’t even feel like I got that upset.”
Tiger Woods (+8)
“When I’m working, I’m working. When I’m at home, away from the golf course, yeah, I do talk to him [son, Charlie]. We’re working on getting his game right. Wish I could see him hit balls or play and get ready like we normally do for an event, but I’m a little bit busy this week.”
Cameron Smith (+9)
“Just a bad day, really. I mean, if you had have told me yesterday that I was going to shoot that, I wouldn’t have said that was possible. But yeah, just a bit of a crappy start and didn’t really manage to hole any putts when I needed to to get back in it.”