2025 Open Championship Recap: Matt Fitzpatrick in 5-WAY TIE for lead, shoots 4-under in Round 1

Rick Gehman joins CBS Sports HQ to recap Round 1 of The Open Championship.

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You see the leaderboard there, Fitzpatrick in that group that includes Harris English. The American at one point did have the solo lead at five overpar back down to four. And it’s the second instance in open championship history that we have five more players tied for first after round one. The last time it happened was 1938. Hey there folks, I’m Tommy Tran now joined by our golf analyst Rick Gaiman. So Rick, we had a a lengthy day of golf. A lot of guys had to get things done. If we focus on that cluster of guys that were 400 part, Matthew Fitzpatrick coming in pre-ournament, 50 to1, an excellent Thursday. What stood out to you? Yeah, well, first off, Tommy, you’re you’re absolutely right. 10 hours worth of tea time, six-hour rounds, basically a 16-hour day of golf, and we just could not get past that four under part number. It was posted early as the lead and every time it looked like somebody was going to be able to extend and get to 500, they would immediately come back to the field. For Matt Fitzpatrick, this is a continuation of what we’ve seen from him over the course of the last three starts. Now, this has been a very sour year for 20 of 2025 for Matt Fitzpatrick. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s been very much in a slump, but he’s starting to work out of it. We have seen him put together some really good finishes at the Scottish Open and recent starts in some bigger fields where when you get to this style of play, Tommy, it’s less about the mechanics and more about the artistry. And I think that allows Matt Fitzpatrick to really kind of turn his brain off to the things that he’s been struggling with. Go out there and play some golf that you’re familiar with. And it’s obviously a very good start here to be part of that lead pack. Yep. We’re taking a look at his best opening round at a major. It’s right up there with of course the one that he won in 2022. Let’s get to some other big names here. I mentioned Scotty Sheffler. Doesn’t often play the week before a major, but he did play the Scottish Genesis Open there. Rick, what did you make of Scotty Sheffller’s day? Vest or no vest? Yeah, he’s always taking it off, putting it back on. You can never decide. Uh, he did not hit a lot of fairways, Tommy. He did not drive it particularly well, but he was able to make the most out of his rounds either way. I I find his distance control with his second shots to be the best in the world by a pretty significant margin and that was on full display in the opening round of the open championship. He hit a couple of weak putts early in his round and then I thought as the day went on he found the speed on the putting surfaces a little better and he did exactly what he always does. Tommy, I feel like I tell you this every single every single day. Oh, he finished strong. He finished with two birdies in his final three holes. It always seems like Scotty Shuffler finishes his rounds on a high note as opposed to giving one back to the field late. So, a really great start here. He’s looking for uh this would be his third different type of major championship. It would be his fourth in total if he was able to get the job done, but obviously 54 holes is a long way to go. You know, he had a lot of interesting comments leading up to the tournament. One of them also is he generally has the two wedges 56 and 60 when he’s stateside. He’s brought a few more over to play Lynx Golf. Where are you at with him and his evolvement in terms of learning Lynx golf and using those wedges around the green? Yeah, so he’s he’s kind of a field player as well. You can just see that in his swing, right? He’s got footwork like nobody else in the world. And when you are playing link style golf, I mean, the turf is very different. We hear guys talk about that all the time. and having to choose which wedge you’re using to get really deep into it, the type of grind on those wedges. It’s it’s just a feel thing and it’s just an experience thing, Tommy. You just have to go and do it. You cannot fake it out there. You cannot get it in a simulator. You cannot practice it in the States. So, the the evolution of his Lynx game is it’s happening fast. It’s a steep learning curve. Uh but Scotty and and Ted Scott on his on his bag, they’re they’re both very very good at learning and putting things into play immediately. So, it’s been impressive the way he’s been able to do it. What do we think of the homecoming for Rory Maroy today? I think the eighth hole was the first time he hit a fairway. Uh, he was obviously very jacked up. You know, the the the T- shot that he hit on number one, probably one of the most anticipated T- shots of his life after making an eight there in 2019 and and basically um destroying his chances of winning in 2019 on the first hole. uh ends up getting out of there with a bogey, but I like that he immediately turned it around and bounced back and got that birdie on two Tommy. It felt like a a really good way for Rory to hit his stride. And while he did make some bogeies around the turn and on the second nine, it’s not the end of the world. The second nine played twice as difficult as the front nine did, he was able to salvage and claw one back on 17 with the with the birdie there. Any score under par was uh splendid around Royal Port Rush. And I think that Rory now has some of the uh some of the jitters, some of the nerves, some of the anticipation behind him. It should be full throttle ahead from here on forward. And of course, he’s certainly not rocking that particular haircut this week at Royal Fort Rush there. Xander Schoffley just plugging along, doing what Xander does. I know I keep asking you, how far removed can we start talking about the rib or not talking about the rib, but obviously he’s an open champion there, the defending one. What did you make of his day on Thursday? Yeah, uh he held it together. I thought that um his tea time and again we saw three or four different weather patterns over the course of the day. I thought that he kind of played in the worst of it. It it’s it was raining throughout his round. There were times where it was it was pouring and then that stopped and it got a little bit windy and he he wasn’t out there but when he was he was done by the time the sun came out. So it was just a lot going on. Um I thought Xander held it together and I thought he did a really good job around the putting surfaces. I saw him hit a variety of chips and pitches that you do not have to play in America, but you have to play when you get to link style golf. And I thought Xander answered those tests. And even par round of 71, it’s not breaking par, but it’s two shots better than the field average. Um, he knows that this is not going to be won on a Thursday. You win this thing on Sunday. And he’s kept himself in it. He is as consistent as consistent gets. The maid’s cut streak, all that good stuff. And, uh, again, in majors, he tends to do well. Uh, that’s not the case for Bryson Desambo. I mean, what happened today? There was the whiff on the baseball swing in the nasty stuff, but that is a scorecard, Rick. I believe just the second round in his major career of no birdie putts for Bryson Deambo. Yeah, that’s that’s the shocking part because he has such firepower. I I don’t think it’s super surprising that he struggles at link style golf. This is something that this has been going on his entire career. Um, Bryson is not an artist and he works very hard to to be the mechanic, to take uh every variable out of his game and just be completely technical. The problem is that doesn’t work here. There there’s just so many different types of shots with so many different types of lies. The the the baseball swing that you’re referring to, Tommy, takes him two hacks at it to move the ball eight yards in total. And that’s a huge problem because all of his clubs are the same length. He can’t choke down as much as he would like to because they’re all the same length. They’re they’re bent completely upright. It’s just it’s an impossible shot for him. It’s a completely impossible shot for him. And there’s a lot of those situations. So, uh, barring some miracle, Bryson is not going to be around on the weekend, it is surprising because he’s one of the best players in the world. But in this type of golf, this style of play, it’s really not surprising at all. came into the tournament with top five shortest odds and it’ll be a struggle for him just to make it to the weekend with that seven over 78. Rick Gam, certainly appreciate it. Thank you for the update of what we saw in round one of the Open Championship. We just showed you the highlights. We’ve got all the highlights here on CBS Sports HQ and we’re streaming it for free 247.