Sandy Lyle suffers tough start at The Open

Shropshire's Sandy Lyle suffered a disastrous start to The Open today after two early bogeys hit his challenge.

The 1985 champion bogeyed holes three and four to slip down the early leaderboard at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

He negotiated the first hole with a par after teeing off at 7.03am but poor shots left him two over after six.

Lyle, who played in five Ryder Cups, is in a three ball with Americans – and fellow former Open winners – Todd Hamilton and Mark Calcavecchia.

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh was the early leader on two under but Robert Rock was another to suffer a horror start to his tournament.

Rock slipped to four over after just three holes when he doubled bogeyed the par three first and the par four third.

He negotiated the par four second hole without trouble but now faces an uphill battle to rescue his challenge and make the cut.

England’s Barry Lane had the honour of the first shot when he started at 6.30am and found the green, with Lytham being the only course on the Open rota which starts with a par three.

James Driscoll and South African Garth Mulroy also found the putting surface in regulation before Driscoll, from furthest away, holed out for a birdie two from around 40 feet across the green. Mulroy made par but Lane three-putted for a bogey.

Lane quickly made amends with a birdie from 12ft on the second, but one of Lytham’s 206 bunkers exacted a swift revenge on the 478-yard third.

The 52-year-old needed two attempts to escape from a fairway bunker on his way to a double-bogey six, while Driscoll – who had almost chipped in for another birdie on the second – also took six after tangling with heavy rough and a greenside bunker.

That left Japan’s Kodai Ichihara and India's Jeev Milkha Singh sharing the early lead on one under, Ichihara having birdied the second and Singh – who won the Scottish Open on Sunday – holing from 20ft at the first.

The first two groups were initially set to contain just two players but Robert Karlsson’s withdrawal yesterday reduced the field from 157 to 156 and left the first of 53 threeballs teeing off at 6.30am.