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Southport: Bryson DeChambeau took a subtle swipe at golfing great Sir Nick Faldo after the six-time major champion declared he had “zero clue of strategy”, before again refusing to front the media as Australia’s leading hopes struggled to make an impact in the opening round of the British Open championship at Royal Birkdale.
Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert and major debutant Cameron John were the best of the Australians at Royal Birkdale on Thursday, each posting rounds of even-par 70.
Lee, Australia’s highest-ranked player – now No.24 in the world after his runner-up finish at last week’s Scottish Open – sits five shots behind American Jackson Suber, who is a surprise first-round leader at five-under.
On a day when Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy shot 68 and 72, respectively, DeChambeau, who boasts more than five million followers on his social media channels, carded a three-under 67 — his best opening round at a British Open.
It came just two days after Faldo slammed the LIV Golf star over his run of missed cuts at this year’s Masters, PGA Championship and US Open, quipping that another early exit this week should be dubbed a “rough slam” rather than a “grand slam”.
“I’d say it to his face. He has zero clue of strategy,” Faldo said on Sky Sports. He said [last year], ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never ‘attacked’ a links course.”
DeChambeau, who played in Adelaide with LIV Golf last year, answered questions from an R&A official after his round but declined to speak to television or written media for the fifth consecutive major.
While not directly asked about Faldo’s remarks, DeChambeau’s trifecta of references to strategy appeared to be a pointed response.
“I think you’ve got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course,” DeChambeau said. “I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places. Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.”
Faldo later claimed credit for the performance after DeChambeau opened with back-to-back birdies on a dry, fast Royal Birkdale layout.
“I think I rattled his cage,” Faldo said. “He has basically stuck you know what up and said, ‘Faldo, I do have strategy’. So I am taking claim that I switched on the strategy play.”
Hopes of Australian Cameron Smith replicating his memorable 2022 triumph at St Andrews took an early hit after he signed for a three-over 73 on a day when birdies were at a premium — except for world No.1 Scheffler to begin with, who made four in his opening six holes.
Drivers stayed in the bag more often than not as players wrestled with the firm-running conditions at the course where Australia’s Ian Baker-Finch lifted the Claret Jug in 1991.
Under glorious English sunshine and in front of thousands of spectators, Smith’s lean run at the majors — seven missed cuts from his past eight starts — threatened to continue, while Lee was pleased with how he fought back.
“I didn’t have too much going great, so it was good to grind it out,” Lee said.
Smith said of his round: “I don’t think it was all really that bad. It was tough out there. I don’t really think I would change a whole lot to be honest. Just needed a couple of putts to go in that missed, and a couple more fairways would have been nice.”
A day after sharing a practice round with Scheffler, Sydneysider Travis Smyth recovered from two bogeys in his opening three holes to finish one over par, while Adam Scott (+2) and Jason Day (+3) will be eager for better rounds on Friday.
“I shit myself on the first tee,” Smyth said of his opening shot in the “coliseum”-style amphitheatre sitting around the first tee box.
“I was extremely nervous. I didn’t feel like I was playing that well. It could have got pretty messy easily.”
Meanwhile, England’s Daniel Brown revealed he smoked “seven or eight” cigarettes during his round on the way to a four-under 66 for a share of second with South Korea’s Sungjae Im.
“Sorry Mum,” he said afterwards. “There might be a big drop-off by Sunday if I’m not allowed [the cigarettes].”
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