The 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale showcased the unique challenges of this links course, with players employing a range of strategies to navigate its tricky terrain. Bryson DeChambeau topped the driving distance charts with a score of 3-under 67, while Francesco Molinari ranked 150th and inked the same score.

Source: sportshub.cbsistatic.com

A Variety of Approaches

Tyrrell Hatton was second to DeChambeau with a score of 68, while Collin Morikawa was one behind Molinari in driving distance and tied the Englishman’s tally. Royal Birkdale proved on Thursday what many already knew: There’s no one right answer to solve the riddle provided by the course.

Source: sportshub.cbsistatic.com

Players have their full bags at their disposal, and while some found answers, others will continue to search for them over the next 54 holes. That is the beauty of Royal Birkdale and this championship: The choose-your-own-adventure nature that unfolded on Thursday.

Some, like overnight leader Jackson Suber, penciled in their circles correctly, while others, like Rory McIlroy, will have to manufacture a way to claw back into this championship. McIlroy employed an aggressive approach like that of DeChambeau and Hatton, albeit without the sterling grade.

The six-time major champion signed for 2-over 72 that put him eight strokes adrift alongside Matt Fitzpatrick (+2) and Xander Schauffele (+1). The three of them came in around the same score but with vastly different approaches.

Decisions on the Course

For example, here is how they attacked the par-4 9th: McIlroy (fresh off another booming drive and a missed short putt) punished his tee shot and drove the par 4, while Schauffele and Fitzpatrick laid back. McIlroy and Schauffele made birdie, while Fitzpatrick made par.

Something similar occurred to end their inward nine. Schauffele took iron off the tee, Fitzpatrick a fairway wood and McIlroy a driver — again, fresh off a bogey. McIlroy said, ‘I drove the ball incredibly well. I took the golf course on off the tee. Obviously, with the positions that I put myself in off the tee, I feel like I obviously should have shot a better score.’

McIlroy made birdie, Fitzpatrick made par, and Schauffele stumbled in the form of a double bogey. This tug-and-pull, give-and-take style of chess match occurred throughout the entire round across every grouping.

DeChambeau hit driver on No. 2 and made birdie, Scottie Scheffler laid back and carded the same score. They both went for the green on the par-4 5th, while others chose the conservative route and put birdies on their scorecard courtesy of a wedge approach.

There was no one best way; yes, distance is always an advantage, but a sharp mind is the equalizer. Scheffler, who signed for an opening 68 and is right in the thick of it, felt as if the trio of himself, DeChambeau, and Hatton employed three different strategies.

Sometimes they would even look at each other’s papers for help. The world No. 1 missed only one fairway and led the field in driving accuracy.

Discipline and Adaptability

Robert MacIntyre said, ‘It was a test of kind of discipline and almost acceptance when I probably took the shot, a club off the tee, which then left a fairly long shot in on some of them, but my job was to get it on the fairway, stay out of these pot bunkers.’

MacIntyre shot — you guessed it — a 67, ranking outside the top 125 in driving distance. It is not often that professional golfers are afforded so many options, especially off the tee. The effect has been the exposure of apt decision making tailored to one’s personal game.

It’s a skill every bit as much as iron play or putting, even if it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. It’s why this leaderboard has a little bit of everything — debutants, past champions, and the cream of the crop — and it’s why who owns their game the best by week’s end will be the one owning the Claret Jug for the next calendar year.