Royal Troon a royal pain for Rory

There’s a hole at Royal Troon, the eighth, that is so short it’s named Postage Stamp. Day one of the Open Rory McIlroy had a double bogey.

There’s another hole at Troon, where the train to Glasgow rumbles past called the Railway. Day one of the Open Rory McIlroy had a double bogey.

This is links golf, with wind, rough and fairways that in some places not only are narrow but are angled. The course was designed by nature which often has been less sympathetic to golfers than architects.

That doesn’t mean someone can’t figure out how to handle the course. Thursday that someone was a pro named Dan Brown. Not to be confused with the Dan who wrote “ DaVinci Code” or the one who is a writer for The Athletic.

This Dan Brown, or Daniel as he is listed in the registration, shot a 6-under par 65 for the first-round lead, albeit, a narrow one, a single stroke. Brown is from Yorkshire in England and is a regular on the DP World Tour.

And second, surely less unexpected on the leaderboard than Brown is Shane Lowry, who won the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, just across the Irish Sea from Troon. Third at 3-under 68 was Justin Thomas, who twice has won the PGA Championship, while Scottie Scheffler was close enough at 70.

The familiar refrain among golf observers is that you can’t win a tournament in the first round but you can lose it.

McIlroy probably lost this 152nd Open, as did Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst a month ago. To think that DeChambeau with a 76 and McIlroy went down to the wire at Pinehurst and now are scrambling to make the cut at Troon. Yes, that’s golf, particularly golf played on different continents.

The golf played by Tiger Woods in the opening round was disappointing, but considering his age, 48, and battered body, it probably wasn’t shocking. He was 1-under through three holes but came in with an 8-over 79.

As the people who play it from the amateur level to the pros, golf can be a cruel game. Those beautiful, expensive clubs, which produce birdies and smiles, can turn on you quickly and go from friend to enemy.

As Rory, who at the piddling 120-yard eighth, reminded us when he left a ball in one of the huge bunkers and had the double. He did the same thing at the Railway hole.

“This can be a tough course,” said Rory. It’s supposed to be. It’s The Open.