Genesis Scottish Open Round 1: Five-Way Logjam at 65 in North Berwick

Five names, one number, and a leaderboard that looks like somebody shook the tour's entire rolodex onto the first page. After 18 holes at The Renaissance Club, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim, Bernd Wiesberger and Rasmus Højgaard are all tied at 5-under 65 at the Genesis Scottish Open.

That is the headline. The fine print is even more crowded. Seven more players sit one back at 4 under, and 71 players are packed within five shots of the lead. Nearly half of the 156-man field broke par on Thursday in North Berwick. With three spots in next week's Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on offer to the top finishers not already exempt, nobody is going to coast through Friday.

Rory Wakes Up on the Front Nine

McIlroy started on the 10th and promptly bogeyed it, which is not how anyone draws up a co-lead. Birdies at 12, 14 and 16 steadied things, and then the round caught fire on the front side. On the par-5 1st, a hole that plays over 600 yards, McIlroy rolled in an 18-footer for eagle. A birdie at the 7th and a chip-in at the 8th finished the job. The card read one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys.

The par 5s were the story. McIlroy said he hit all three in regulation, and the driver is the reason why.

"I felt like I drove the ball particularly well, and I started to see that at Shinnecock, as well," McIlroy said, per the AP, pointing back to the U.S. Open, where things did not go his way.

It is the first time McIlroy has had a share of an 18-hole lead since the Masters. He believes the game is trending the right direction, and Thursday gave him evidence.

Cantlay Grinds Out a Clean Card

Cantlay's 65 was the opposite flavor. Five birdies came in a 10-hole stretch, but the round was really built on the saves. At the par-5 7th, Cantlay played out of a pot bunker back to the fairway, still had 261 yards left, and walked off with par anyway thanks to a 13-foot putt. Another par save from 5 feet followed at the 8th, and Cantlay closed out a bogey-free card by holing out from just inside 100 feet at the 9th.

Cantlay switched to a slightly heavier putter to handle greens that are running slower this week, and it paid off. For a player ranked No. 37 and coming off a missed cut at the U.S. Open, it was a timely answer.

"I've been putting in some hard work with my team, and have got some important golf the rest of the year," Cantlay said.

The Other Three at the Top

Tom Kim has always liked this place. Kim finished third here in 2022 and picked up right where that memory left off, posting six birdies against one bogey.

Wiesberger, the 2019 champion, had the most dramatic shape to his day. After an early bogey, the Austrian ran off seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch and held the outright lead for a while before a bogey at the 17th pulled him back into the pack.

Højgaard came closest to owning Thursday alone. The Dane was 6 under with four holes to play, then found a bunker off the tee at the par-4 16th and made double bogey. A birdie at the par-3 17th got Højgaard back to 5 under, but the last did not cooperate. Højgaard was also the only one of the five co-leaders to play in the afternoon, when the wind eased.

A Crowded Room at 4 Under

The group at 66 is a serious one: Brooks Koepka, Kurt Kitayama, Andrew Novak, Michael Thorbjornsen, Min Woo Lee, Angel Ayora and Oliver Lindell.

Koepka's round could have been so much more. Koepka missed four putts from 7 feet or closer and still shot 66, because three birdie putts dropped from beyond 20 feet. This was also a good health sign, coming after a nerve issue in the left hand forced a withdrawal from the Canadian Open.

"It could have been a very, very good round. But then again, I'm happy with the way I battled back," Koepka said.

Lee, a former winner of this event, made six birdies and would have had a share of the lead without a bogey at the last. Thorbjornsen, meanwhile, arrived as the fourth alternate for The Open. A week like this is exactly how that problem gets solved.

Scheffler and the Champion Sit Three Back

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 68 and left a little annoyed. Scheffler made three straight birdies around the turn to get to 3 under, then three-putted from long range at the 11th. A drive into a bunker on the par-5 12th was part of a day where Scheffler did not birdie any of the three par 5s.

Scheffler said afterward that he likes to keep a clean card, and the two bogeys stung.

Defending champion Chris Gotterup also opened with 68, playing alongside McIlroy and home favorite Robert MacIntyre. MacIntyre is one shot better at 67, in a group at 3 under that includes Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Danny Willett, Calum Hill and reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.

The Friday Problem

The Renaissance Club is not true links turf, but it plays with the look and the wind of one. The afternoon wave got a calmer window on Thursday. On Friday, with a cut looming and Birkdale spots on the line, a five-way tie at 5 under is less a lead than a starting gun.

Full scores are on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more detail.

Sources: PGA TOUR (AP Round 1 recap and leaderboard), Sky Sports, AAP, IANS. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.