In the days of Harry Vardon, golf was played by men wearing coats and ties.
Justin Thomas showed up on the first tee at Royal Birkdale Thursday, dressed for success and promptly had his best start ever in the Open Championship.
Thomas wore a tie and sweater combo and later said: “I didn’t come here to dress well — I came here to try and play some good golf. I don’t wear a tie very often but I wore one every day in high school.”
Thomas’ tie didn’t stop him from shooting 67 and that put himself within two of his pal Jordan Spieth and the other American co-leaders — Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar.
Thomas made his big move with an eagle putt at the 17th hole that got him to three-under for his first day at the 146th Open Championship.
Charley Hoffman got his round started with a roar right off the bat. At the first hole, Hoffman’s lost his drive right, not far from the out-of-bounds stakes. He hit his second from the whispy grass, it hit the green, started rolling and wound up in the hole for an eagle two. He joined Thomas to make two Americans in a group of six players at 67.
Dustin Johnson continued with his run of less-than-stellar play.
After withdrawing from the Masters, Johnson missed the cut at the U.S. Open and didn’t turn any heads on day one at Birkdale. He managed just one birdie on the round and that came at the second hole. The world’s No. 1 finished with a one-over par 71.
Tenth-ranked Rickie Fowler was looking for a good start but it didn’t come. Fowler’s game was off for most of the day and like Johnson, he shot 71.
James Hahn was simply lucky to be playing. He was the first alternate and got into the tournament when Brandt Snedeker withdrew due to a rib injury.
Hahn made the most of his good fortune and shot 68 on Thursday.
