All the talk in the media and around the world of golf was how the "big four" would perform at Royal Troon. Yet the Open is renowned for not being a walk in the park due to the challenging links course it portrays.

Difficulties for Day and Dustin

World number one Jason Day found that out the hard day on a difficult opening round on Thursday. An inconsistent front nine that saw two birdies and three bogeys left him over par at the turn, before a more settled back nine saw an influx of pars. Yet Day still ended his round two over par and ten shots off the lead. He managed to hit 71% of fairways, low by his standards, and only landed 56% of greens in regulation.

The powerful Dustin Johnson did not fare much better in a round that had the opposite problems to Day. His long distance driving was tainted by a lack of accuracy causing him tons of problems as he only hit 57% of fairways. His green finding was better, but Johnson only managed two birdies on holes six and seven as he took 32 putts to finish 18 holes.

Royal Troon presents some challenging holes (photo : Getty Images )
Royal Troon presents some challenging holes (photo : Getty Images )

Spieth and McIlory fall away after promising starts

Jordan Spieth produced an almost mirror image display of Dustin Johnson, hitting the same number of fairways, making the same percentage of greens in regulation at 78% and finishing on the same score. However, the situation should have been better for the 2015 Masters champion when he found himself two under after six holes, though he capitulated as many do on challenging links courses.

Rory McIlroy produced the best round of the big four, ending on two under. Though, like Spieth, he could have entered the clubhouse even better placed. The Northern Irishman got off to a dream start with four birdies in the opening eight holes, before a double bogey and bogey on thirteen and fourteen halted McIlory's challenge further up the leaderboard.

Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott were the only other top ten players to match McIlory on two under par after the opening round. With the experienced Phil Mickelson leading on eight under and at least three strokes ahead of anyone else, there is a lot of work to do for the household names if they want to prevent an upset.

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