Lamprecht cut his teeth at Louis Oosthuizen’s Junior Golf Academy in South Africa. On Thursday, he played alongside the 2010 Open Champion, drawing from his calm wisdom to extract seven birdies from a tricky course protected by wind, treacherous sand traps and rough that appears unkempt, and unwieldy. He was looking imperious for the most part, going four-under through the first ten holes. Lamprecht made three more birdies on the finishing stretch but took bogeys on the 11th and 16th holes to sign for the lowest amateur card in the Open since a 65 by Tom Lewis at Royal St George’s in 2011. At 6’8” Lamprecht is among the tallest golfers in the world. Even then, it came as a surprise that he stood so tall in a field full of superstars. Not to him.
“It’s pretty surreal to be leading. I think I earned my spot to be here. I think the way I played today I earned to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now,” said a confident Lamprecht.
Lamprecht set the tone of his towering performance with an impressive start. He saved par from 20 feet on the first hole, before finding the cup from 25 feet on the third to set up a remarkable round of golf.
“It’s not a cocky thing to say,” Lamprecht explained about not being surprised himself. “I personally think I believe in myself, and I guess stepping on to the first tee box if you’re a professional or a competitor, you should be believing that you should be the best standing there.”
The Open is never short on stories. In 2009, Stewart Cink, much younger than the 59-year-old Tom Watson denied the great legend an improbable victory at Turnberry. All these years later, he was busy turning the clock himself with a stupendous 68 without a blemish. At three under, the 50-year-old American found himself in the company of US Open Champion Wyndham Clark. The two men were tied in fourth, just one shot behind Antoine Rozner, a Frenchman who plays on the European Tour. There has been plenty of chatter about the dangers lurking around the picturesque 17th hole. It did not take long to bare its teeth. Lucas Herbert was leading the field as he approached the tee box at the 136-yard par 3. Herbert barely missed the green, left. That was enough to produce blood. He chipped right across the green, rolling into one of the three bunkers that protect the Little Eye. Needing two strokes to extricate himself from the sand trap, Herbert would take a six and drop back to even par. Matthew Jordan is a member of Hoylake. And the energy showed on Thursday, when a boisterous group of ardent supporters marched the course with him. Some exquisite strokes were accompanied by a typical Merseyside chorus, working together for an elegant 69. That earned Jordan space on the front page of the leaderboard and plenty of admiration. It did not hurt that he was rubbing shoulders with Jordan Spieth and Si Woo Kim at T9.
Shubhankar Starts Strong
At the time of writing this, Shubhankar Sharma the lone Indian in the field, was off to a promising start. He made a birdie at the fourth before nearly going one better at the next. Shubhankar got a good look at an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole, before tapping in for birdie. He is two under halfway through the forward nine, locked with at least seven other golfers, four of them still working through their first round.
PGA Champion Brooks Koepka returned to the clubhouse with a modest 70 to his name. The Masters Champion Jon Rahm was halfway through his round, at 1-over, as was Rory McIlroy.
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