British Open Round 1 leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler makes late push while Rory McIlroy stays close

The first day at the 2025 British Open ended with tension and excitement at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Fans watched closely as top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler made a strong push to stay close to the leaders.

With one powerful round down, several big names are chasing a tight leaderboard, while a few others have a lot of work to do on Friday.

Scottie Scheffler finishes one shot behind leaders after strong Thursday British Open Round 1

In the opening round of the British Open at Royal Portrush on Thursday, July 17, 2025, Scottie Scheffler shot a 3-under 68. His constant display by day's end had him merely one stroke from the front. With Sadom Kaewkanjana, Matthew Jordan, and Tyrrell Hatton, Scheffler now stands in sixth place.

Tied at 4-under, the lead group includes Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick, Haotong Li, Jacob Skov Olesen, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Showing poise all around the round, and mounted a hard drive on the back nine, Scheffler, currently the best golfer in the world, placed himself exquisitely for the second round. Scottie Scheffler's incredible season brings fans much expectation. Following his planned round under heavy weather conditions on the Northern Ireland track, his name was frequently trending on social media and sports outlets.

Rory McIlroy makes better start as Bryson DeChambeau struggles in British Open Round 1

Rory McIlroy began more subdued than he had in the 2019 British Open disaster at Royal Portrush. Though he had bo-gged the first hole once more, he kept his composure and finished the round 1-under. From the last time he played the same course, when he famously hit his first shot out of bounds and missed the cut, this was a significant change.Also Read: Manny Pacquiao Dares To Defy Age With Bold Move To Steal Mario Barrios’ WBC TitleBryson DeChambeau suffered a difficult day, concluding at 7-over, while McIlroy did better.

Near the bottom of the leaderboard, his round was among the worst among the major stars. Other leading golfers including Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, Wyndham Clark, and Collin Morikawa also got off to poor starts and will need low Round 2 scores to remain in contention. Starting at 1:35 a. m. ET on Friday, July 18, 2025, the second round of the British Open starts. Round 2 offers more excitement on the historical Royal Portrush track with Scottie Scheffler near the top and McIlroy displaying evidence of form.