You’re aware of all the pre-tournament circumstance and pomp, highlighted by the Freedom of the City to Jack Nicklaus, and honorary membership in the Royal and Ancient Golf Club to Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Paul Lawrie. Honorary degrees were conferred by the University of St. Andrews to five esteemed competitors, including Scotland’s Catriona Matthew. The run-up to the event’s first day of competition, the first at the Old Course since 2015, was unlike any I’ve seen prior. The twitterverse and instarealm were beyond agog at nearly everything related to The Open Championship. We are a long way from knowing who the champion golfer of 2022 will be, but we do know five things that we didn’t know yesterday, and we’d like to share them with you.

1. Golf at the Old Course is not what it once was

At roughly 12:30 pm in the eastern portion of the USA, streaming announcers revealed three drivable fours and two reachable fives on the day. Players watched as much golf as they played at times, and play was not as efficient as it was before technology and fitness came to dominate. Wait times on tees and fairways were extended a bit, which brings up the question of how the auld sod will host the Open Championship into the middle of this century. The greenkeeping staff and tournament set-up team found hole locations that were both puttable and beguiling. As other courses lengthen themselves, this one seems to be done with that, and is content with utilizing what it has to flummox the world’s finest golfers.

Q. Blistering start you birdied some holes that others weren’t, but then dropped shots on holes that people were birdieing?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: I’m left-handed. They’re right-handed. There’s wind directions that suit me. There’s wind directions that suit them. The back nine is tough for me. Simple as that, was off your right-hand side, as tough for a right-hander going out, off to the left.

So I knew where I could take my chances. I feel like I committed to the game plan very well. There’s only one hole we really don’t have a plan on, and that’s 13. And the result shows you.

This is fun, @XSchauffele ?#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/P6YAZd2NeF

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2022

2. Cameron Young played some fine golf

Young is your first-round leader at St. Andrews, and he did so by posting eight birdies against ten pars. The young American golfer played the first twelve holes in seven-under figures, and came home in pars until the last, where he posted birdie. We’ve seen Young feature in major events before, especially at Southern Hill in May’s PGA Championship, where he finished third, just out of a playoff. On this day, the New York state native drove his ball and approached his ball and putted his ball better than any others. It won’t be close to easy, but contention on Sunday is viable for the son of the golf director at Sleepy Hollow.

Q. What was imperfect about the way you played if it wasn’t a perfect way? Do you have a few examples of some of the smart things you did or strategic things you did?

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, I didn’t drive it particularly well. I think I hit it fine off the tee, but it wasn’t just going where I was looking.

I think one of the ones, I hit it left on 5, the par-5, and that one just is uncomfortable for me. I know that those bunkers on the right are in play with the wind off the left. But I had it written down in my book, I said hard left is better than right. I made sure it was hard left today.

That’s one, from over there, almost every time you’re going to have a shot to fly it over that bunker in the middle of the fairway and roll it up on the green, which is exactly how it went. That was one of the ones. We did stuff like that a few times today.

Cameron Young took the fight to the Old Course this morning and carded a superb 6??4??

Watch highlights of his First Round at #The150thOpen ? pic.twitter.com/TCmJbd2G9o

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2022

3. Rory McIlroy cannot wait for round two

We’ve heard the northern Irishman defend the tours in the past month, and we’ve watched him play wonderful golf in winning the Canadian Open. Punters, pundits, and patrons alike have him pencilled in as a favorite in this tournament. McIlroy was one bogey higher and one birdie lower than Young, but his game around the Old Course was marvelous. McIlroy’s putting will determine how he fares around the massive, green surfaces of St. Andrews. His long game has space for error, but the short game will win the day. Can he add a second Open to his other four major titles? No question.

Q. This week you looked like you’re in total control on and off the course. Do you feel like that? And you just said thinking well is so important out there. Give us a best example of that from out there today.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, everything feels very settled. No real issues with my game. Everything feels like it’s in good shape. Everything feels just sort of nice and quiet, which is a nice way to be. And yeah, thinking well.

17, for example, today I hit it way down there. And my ball’s on the fairway, but it’s in a lie where I don’t feel like I can get the leading edge of a lob wedge underneath the ball to get a good enough strike on it. So I chipped a little gap wedge down there, and I pulled it.

But I played the right shot so that if I did miss it, it wasn’t in too bad of a spot but I could then get it up-and-down from. And that’s what I’m talking about, the trickiness. I only had 85 yards to the front of the green on 17, and I knew 4 was going to be a good score.

So I think it’s accepting that sometimes and not being overly aggressive, even when you put yourself in some of these positions. I think that’s important.

You don't see this every day …@McIlroyRory's drive hits a stone marking the original boundary of the Old Course.pic.twitter.com/LQSZQ177Qk

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2022

4. Sing the song of the amateur

As storied as the Old Course is, parallel is its affection for the amateur golfer. St. Andrews hosts as many top-shelf amateur events as it does professional ones. Some of its greatest legends revolve around Joyce Wethered and Bobby Jones, two of the games most revered amateur golfers. It’s fitting that one Barclay “Bucket Hat” Brown went round the old dame in 68 strokes today, fashioning a necklace of five birdies and one solitary bogey. Brown attended classes at Stanford University the past three years, where he also played a bit of golf. Brown earned an international cap in 2021, as a member of the GBI Walker Cup side. Raise a glass of your favorite to the young man from South Yorkshire. Here’s to many returns this week, and a place in the sun on Sunday.

Q. Can you give us an example of a hole or a shot that was particularly unusual to play because of how hard and fast the fairways are?

BARCLAY BROWN: Yeah, I’m sure I can. Probably the 15th, I hit a good drive on 15 and finished just in the edge of the rough. The pins kind of tucked behind the bunker. It’s 30 yards on, but really just had absolutely no chance given the pin. So I had to land it short of the green and just work it to the back right and try to two-putt from 45, 50 feet.

“The reason the Road Hole at St. Andrews is the most difficult par-4 in the world is that it was designed as a par-6.”.

Amateur Barclay Brown makes a '3' on 17, his fifth birdie of the round, and he's 4 under at #TheOpen.pic.twitter.com/cEi7JDoLMK

— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) July 14, 2022

5. What more is in store?

Our crystal ball is not the most clairvoyant among glassy orbs, but from time to time, it does give us a bit of prognostication that is, more or less, erroneous. With that firmly in mind, let’s poke around at what more is in store for the next 24 – 48 – 72 hours of championship golf at St. Andrews.

Farewells: Tiger Woods, sadly. The golf gods gave him a divot in the first fairway, and he turned it into a double bogey. This week’s medal looks like a 36-hole one.

Recoveries: Justin Thomas. Took the needle from Tiger Woods and promptly posted 72. Meh. Thomas will go out with great

Surprises: Kurt Kitayama. Played great golf at Renaissance last week, and would love to improve on that runner-up finish.

Contenders: Cameron Smith. The Mullet has been in contention in majors quite often, but has yet to accept a winner’s prize. Why not here?

Climbers: Min Woo Lee. Sister Min Jee Lee is tearing up the women’s tours, and little brother wants a taste of the major action. He won the 2021 Scottish Open, so he kinda gets this game.

Tiger stinger x St Andrews = ?#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/KrzEZ4xfd8

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2022

Questions and Answers courtesy of ASAP Sports