PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – A glance at the first round Thursday of the British Open at Royal Portrush:

LEADING: J.B. Holmes with a 5-under 66.

TRAILING: Shane Lowry had a 67, while 13 players were at 68.

LOCAL FAVORITES: Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot out of bounds and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on his way to a 79. Darren Clarke shot an even-par 71, while Graeme McDowell made a triple bogey on the final hole to shoot 73.

TIGER TALES: Tiger Woods shot a 78, his worst start in the British Open and third-worst score in a major championship.

RORY’S ROUGH START: McIlroy’s 79 beat only five other players in the 156-man field.

BEST HOLE: Emiliano Grillo had a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th.

HISTORIC: It was the first time the British Open has been played in Ireland since 1951, the only other time it has been played outside of England and Scotland.

NOTABLE: Ryan Fox was 10 shots better on the back nine with a 29, the first player in British Open history to break 30 on the back nine.

QUOTEABLE: “Actually I had two glasses of wine last night, but nothing else. I was very sensible last night. I didn’t think this was a good tee time to miss.” — Darren Clarke, who lives in Portrush and was chosen to hit the opening tee shot.

TELEVISION: 11:30 p.m. Thursday to 2 p.m. Friday, Golf Channel.

Associated Press