Coffee and biscuits await after MacIntyre tames 'beast'

Venue: Royal Troon Dates: Thu 18-Sun 21 July

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Bob MacIntyre had only ever played 36 holes at Royal Troon before the opening round of this year's Open Championship.

Fortunately, 18 of those were in weather like he experienced on Thursday.

This was not the sunshine of the practice days, when greens were in reach and the course was vulnerable.

The Ayrshire links was, the Scot said, "a beast" on the first day of this year's event as the crosswinds gusted and the showers fell.

It would have been "a shock to the system" for some of his contemporaries, but MacIntyre had more than an inkling of what this course could do.

That he padded off it at the end of the day with a one-over 72 to sit within striking distance of the leaders was more than satisfactory.

"I didn't hole the putts that I hoped to, but it's difficult with the winds," last week's Scottish Open winner told BBC Scotland. "Tee to green, it was close to perfect.

"Would I have taken one over before I went out? Probably."

And with that, he was off to his "a dozen putts, then relax with a coffee and a couple of biscuits" before returning for his 14:37 BST tee time on Friday.

Another Scottish player who was more than happy with his day's toil was amateur Calum Scott.

Out in the second group, he took advantage of the slightly more benign conditions to compile a level par 71 and raise hopes of making the cut and claiming the Silver Medal for the leading amateur.

The other two Scots in the field are not entirely without hopes of prolonging their weeks either.

Jack McDonald outperformed former Troon champions Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton in the first group of the day to post a 76.

And Ewan Ferguson, out in perhaps the worst of the weather, returned to the sanctuary of the locker room with a 74.

The recent BMW International Open champion made par just once in an eventful nine-hole stretch from the 6th to 14th, rolling in four birdies across the day.