The Open Championship - Day 1 18-7-24
Shane Lowry Bogey Free Round +2000
Shane Lowry 1st Round Leader +4500
Finding value on the tote board for the first round of any major is a crapshoot. First day nerves, folks feeling out the course and Royal Troon rearing its ugly head in the international spotlight made this Thursday no different. In perusing my options, I found myself returning to Irishman Shane Lowry. I loved that he’d won The Open once before back in 2019 at Royal Portrush. He also had a decent showing at the Travelers a few weeks ago where he posted 17 under and took home a cool half million.
Stats and golf skills aside, I also appreciate that he looks like me out there on the links. I’m not body-shaming the guy, but I see way more of myself in him than I do the jacked-up Golf-inators like DeChambeau & Koepka. I always like betting on folks who look like they’d enjoy a pint or three to help me celebrate a victory.
I thought I was getting good value at +4500 for him to be the first round leader, so I went big to try and set up a bankroll for the rest of the weekend. And since I figured he’d need to shoot well to be the Day 1 champ, I also put a little on him at +2000 to go Bogey Free.
As the day got underway, I was not disappointed. Lowry came out hot. Bogey-free and three under on the front. I was feeling pretty good! Then he stayed consistent on the back and shot a bogey-free two under. My little bet was a win!! Now I just needed everyone else to fall victim to Troon’s wily ways. My guy Lowry was in the clubhouse at five under.
Since he teed off later in the afternoon, there weren’t too many big names left on the course. Spieth was there, but after a one-over front nine, he only managed to get back to even for the day. Scottie Scheffler was close to even all day and could only get it to one under. Lowry’s five under was looking better and better by the minute (as was my wager!)
When Englishman Daniel Brown opened the back nine with a pair of birdies, I wasn’t all that concerned, mostly because I knew almost nothing about him. I pulled the rookie mistake of underestimating my opponents. I was tracking the big names throughout the day, but I should have remembered that the Majors always throw a curveball at you in that opening round when a lesser-known rises to the top. I thought my Lowry pick was the outside-the-box play. I was wrong.
Daniel Brown is not even a good golf name. He sounds more like one of the racecourse wankers in a Dick Francis novel. But he played some great golf on Day 1 and edged out Lowry (and more importantly, my big bet!) by birdying two of the last three holes.
I recouped a little with that bogey-free round, but the sting of having my massive payout derailed by Daniel flipping Brown still stung. Time to lick my wounds and plot out my plays for the weekend.