'It felt like a marathon!' - Number of players vent frustration after slow Open pace at Royal Portrush

With torrential rain, at times brutal winds and the testing nature of a links golf course, the 156-player field were mentally put through their paces as they aimed to make a positive start to the year’s final major.

Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin was amongst the first group to tee off at 6:35am while the final trio began at 4:16pm, meaning they were walking off the course close to 10pm, concluding what was a thrilling first day of action in near darkness.

Local hero Rory McIlroy, who is returning to Northern Ireland for the first time since completing a career Grand Slam at The Masters, took to the course at 3:10pm and wasn’t finished until 9pm.

Australia’s Marc Leishman, who posted an opening two-over par 73, made his feelings at the situation clear.

"I think I got up about 8am, watched an hour,” he said. “Felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours.

"We've been on the course for three hours through eight holes. That was tough to deal with, especially coming from somewhere where we play in under 4.5 hours every week.

“You got to deal with all that sort of stuff, and I felt like I dealt with it decently well. Just got a little frustrated there.

"I thought I was playing really good and not getting anything out of it, but the conditions were tough. Hopefully just get a good one going in the morning.”

Robert MacIntyre was part of a featured group including Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose, and they were also out on the course for nearly six hours.

"I thought six hours in a practice round the other day was a long time,” said MacIntyre. “I didn’t think we’d have six hours in a tournament, but I don’t think we could have went any faster.

"I was speaking there to the guys inside and they were saying pretty much everybody is five hours 55 minutes…I guess golf courses are too long.”

England’s Tyrrell Hatton didn’t let the delays impact his game, shooting three-under par – one of the opening day’s best rounds – but admitted it was hard maintaining energy levels throughout.

"I think just with the conditions...I know it wasn’t super windy, it picked up as the round went on a bit,” said Hatton. “It’s hard.

"There are a few bottleneck areas that slows things down. I don’t really know what you can do. The field is 156 players...it was very slow and it felt like you couldn’t eat enough.”

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann is now used to playing only three rounds at tournaments – the Chilean has enjoyed superb since switching to LIV, winning six titles since February 2024, including four this year – and was in a jovial mood despite a lengthy stay in Portrush.

"I was just joking that we’re not used to having long rounds like this, it felt like a marathon!” said Niemann. “It was fine.”