TROON, Scotland — In theory, sleeping should be a fairly straightforward process. All you have to do, after all, is lie on your back and shut your eyes. It’s so easy, even a corpse can do it.
But trying to nod off the night before you make your Open Championship debut? Well, that’s a different matter altogether.
“I tried to get to bed around 7.30, 8 p.m. last night because I knew it was going to be an early start,” said Scottish amateur Calum Scott.
“I tried to get comfortable in bed and see if I could close my eyes, but it took me a while. I was probably up until midnight, so I didn’t get much sleep.”
A ruffled golfing mind can make a restless pillow. He would’ve slept better last night, mind you. A spirited level-par 71 on a tough, testing day left this particular Scott as the leading Scot. He was even better than Robert MacIntyre.
It was an admirable effort from the Walker Cup player, who harnessed the conditions and some early nerves to fine effect.
“The first few holes were a little shaky,” conceded Scott, who earned his place in the field through The Open Amateur Series. “It was tough with the crowds out there. It was something I haven’t experienced before.
“I was a little uncomfortable at the start, but once I got the past the nerves, the noise and the other distractions, I settled in and played some really good golf.”
Calum Scott birdies the last at Royal Troon
@TexasTechMGolf pic.twitter.com/AZior9zwzR
— Nairn Golf Club (@NairnGolfClub) July 18, 2024
A particular highlight was a birdie on the Postage Stamp, par-3 eighth – what Rory McIlroy would’ve given for that – while a birdie putt from 12 feet under the towering gaze of the grandstands on the 18th provided a finishing flourish.
The hearty round of applause for a job well done was fully merited. A post round 40 winks was probably justified too.
“Birdies at the Postage Stamp and the 18th?” he smiled. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
While Scott trotted off for a kip, MacIntyre returned to his own digs in a chipper mood after a dogged one-over 72.
On a day when one or two big names suffered a few devastating dunts to their ambitions, the newly crowned Genesis Scottish Open champion’s exercise in damage limitation brought an upbeat self-assessment.
“I thought it was almost perfect,” said MacIntyre, who has recorded two top-10 finishes in his previous four Open appearances.
“The putter didn’t turn up today, but I thought tee to green was absolutely superb. You can’t win it on the first day, but you can play yourself out of it. I thought one-over was a good round of golf.”
After a relatively barren day on the greens, MacIntyre plonked in a six-footer for birdie on the 18th to give himself a late lift.
“I had loads of chances from inside the 12-feet range,” he said of the ones that got away. “I thought I rolled them well and they went the opposite way. But that’s Troon. It’s very subtle.
“It’s an old school links golf course where the greens are very flat but they just kink left to right. With the crosswinds, as well, when you’re hitting a putt, the ball will move in the wind. But that putt on the last was big.”
Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson, the winner of the BMW International Open a couple of weeks ago, opened with a three-over 74 while local lad Jack McDonald marked his Open debut with a 76.
Out in the very first group of the 152nd championship, with past Troon winners Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton for company, McDonald relished the experience in his own backyard.
“I played really well tee to green to be honest but I had a few three-putts in there,” said McDonald, who nabbed a Troon tee-time in a play-off at the final qualifying shoot-out at Dundonald a couple of weeks ago.
“Todd just kept saying to me, ‘come on, knock this in and get the crowd going’. It almost felt like I just needed that one putt to go in, but I just couldn’t do it.
“I kept going at it, though, and kept committing to everything. It was all about controlling the emotions of playing in my first major. I could’ve been a few shots better. But that’s golf.”