Scottie Scheffler settled, settled and settled until he surged through the finish line of his opening 18 holes at the 2025 Open Championship. Signing for a first-round 68 to position himself one shot behind the early co-leaders of Matt Fitzpatrick,

Another bogey-free round belonged to 44-year-old Justin Rose, in the group at 69 that included 52-year-old Lee Westwood, former Open champion Brian Harman and Lucas Glover, who was tied for the lead until a pair of bogeys early on the back nine.

By the time play finally ended on Thursday night, there were five players tied for the lead at 4-under. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, thanks to a very solid 68 in the early wave, is just a shot back. Rory McIlroy climbed into contention briefly, but three bogeys on his back nine dropped him to 1-under — so he still has some work to do.

Matt Fitzpatrick was among five co-leaders through Thursday's first round of the 2025 British Open, while No. 1 Scottie Scheffler lurks at Royal Portrush.

Honesty always has been in Scottie Scheffler's bag, as the headlines before the start of The Open underscored, and he was wringing truth once more Thursday after firing a 3-under par at Royal Portrush.

The first round of the 2025 Open Championship saw Royal Portrush giving the 156-player field all it could handle as ever-changing weather conditions allowed the Northern Ireland course to show off its strength against the best players in the world.

Scottie Scheffler raised more than a few eyebrows with an unexpected admission ahead of The Open this week. With 16 PGA Tour victories, three major triumphs, 148 consecutive weeks as world No.1 and enough riches to last him a lifetime, the 29-year-old has just about everything he has ever wanted.