Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport golf reporter at Royal Birkdale

"Go 'ed Tommy lad!"

If Fleetwood gets a pound for every time he hears that this week then he’ll be able to buy the whole of Southport.

The grandstand around the first tee might be small but the welcome for the local hero is almighty.

Fans clamber up sand dunes to catch a glimpse of their favourite son. The snappers have their cameras at the ready.

No doubt who is the star of the show today…

Huge roar for Tommy Fleetwood as the hometown hero this week and somehow he manages to keep it together enough to find the fairway.

This will be some week for him with huge galleries set to follow him up and down the Royal Birkdale dunes - it's all a far cry from his early days at Southport Municipal but he's a genuine major contender these days.

Whether the crowd support can spur him on, or whether the pressure will be too much we shall see in the coming days.

Image source, Getty Images

In case you missed it, this was Justin Rose, 28 years ago when he won the Silver Medal for best amateur finish at The Open, aged just 17 years old.

It wasn't quite the same celebration when he kicked off today's round with a birdie, but he's got to have good vibes strolling around this place.

How good would a Rose win be this week? Thumbs if you agree.

Image source, Getty Images

Steady par for Justin Rose at the par-four second.

He cards a four alongside partners Russell Henley and Viktor Hovland, and moves on.

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

The football didn't go to plan last night but hopefully Tommy Fleetwood will settle on more appropriate tactics as he chases a maiden major win on familiar territory just a few miles from his hometown of Southport.

The 35-year-old used to bunk on to the neighbouring course at Hillside as a young golfer and in the build-up to this week he said winning the Open on home soil would mean he would happily never hit another golf shot.

And his form in recent majors has been excellent without getting over the line. Over the past 10 seasons, Fleetwood has finished in the top five of a major on seven occasions - the most of any current player not to have won one during the same period.

Look away Sir Nick. Bryson DeChambeau goes aggressive off the opening tee and immediately finds the rough down the left.

Scottie Scheffler is perfectly positioned on the left of the fairway after a lovely bounce out of the rough, with Tyrrell Hatton also getting a fortunate kick, too,after flying his ball off to the right.

The definition of home favourite = Tommy Fleetwood.

Southport's finest.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The last time the Open Championship came to this parish was nine years ago and Jordan Spieth was the man holding the Claret Jug aloft on the Sunday evening.

It remains the last of the three major titles the American has to his name and with injuries and slump in form to contend with Spieth has only won two tournaments since.

However, he is still only 32 and refuses to believe that he cannot recature the form that carried him to the top of the world rankings and glory at Royal Brikdale in 2017.

“I’ll never believe that until I’m at a point in my career where my health or whatever would be that because if you give up on reaching your ceiling then I don’t see a point in playing any more,” he said.

“I’ll do everything I can to be the very best in the world because I know I can be. I have been. It’s nice to have the blueprint. If you are capable of leading in every (statistical) category, then you are capable of doing great things: even this season (his best finish is 11th) I’ve been able to lead in each of the different categories.

“There are things I can do significantly better now than when I was number one in the world, therefore there should be nothing to stop me in my own head to believe that I can reach that again.

“I’m 32, I’m not 42. At 42 you’d really have to sacrifice a lot of things to try and do that. I don’t feel like I have to. I’m always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player. I know my ceiling is where that level was so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player I am now.”

Bryson DeChambeau has two majors under his belt, but he is very keen on being a YouTube star as well - is that taking away from his major chances?

He has missed the cut in all three majors so far this year, and the Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee believes that his pursuit of video views has overtaken his thirst for winning golf's biggest prizes.

Do you agree?

Thomas Detry lays up on his approach to the par-five 14th and then cliips into 18 feet.

He can't sink the birdie putt though and that's perhaps a chance missed to extend his lead at the top of the leaderboard.

All these are glorious links courses, but which Open venue do you think is the best?

Vote now and let us know your thoughts using the Get Involved button.

Birdie-birdie start for American Alex Smalley to charge up the leaderboard - remember he finished second behind Aaron Rai at the US PGA Championship.

That was during a stellar run of form but it all went downhill a bit after that as he arrives here after three missed cuts in four. Links golf might just be his cup of tea though.

That'll get the tournament started.

Two delicious approaches out of the rough from Justin Rose and Viktor Hovland set up immediate birdie opportunities at the opening hole.

Rose drains his first from 12 feet and Hovland follows him in from slightly closer.

Image source, Getty Images

After seeing this Jason Day outfit in practice during the week we were expecting big things for day one today, but he's come out dressed like a normal, regular professional golfer.

He's let us all down here.

What do you think of his camouflage combo from earlier this week? Does it get the thumbs up?

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

Image source, Getty Images

Robert MacIntyre has finished in the top eight on three of his six Open appearances, most recently coming T-7 at Portrush last year. He finished sixth on his Open debut at the same course in 2019.

His last trip to the links of Merseyside, however, was a less happy affair. He finished in a tie for 71st at Hoylake after shooting 10 over par, including an opening round of 74. He still made nearly 30 grand in prize money, mind you.

Image source, Getty Images

Bryson DeChambeau, who has failed to make a cut in the three previous majors this season was accused of having "zero clue of strategy" for links golf earlier this week by six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo.

Perhaps DeChambeau's recently approved new set of irons can help him make an impression on the leaderboard, albeit Faldo has questioned whether his power-hitting approach is the best way forward on a links course.

"He said last year: 'I'm going to go out and attack the links.' Well, I've never attacked a links," Faldo said on Sky Sports.

"You thread it, don't you? You feed it down the fairway. You look at humps and bumps. If I send it over and feed it, it nudges back into play.

"You don't think: 'Oh, I'll just blast it down there. Can't see where I'm going.' The fairway is 20 yards wide. You've got to think: 'How do I get it on the short grass?' It is so important."

DeChambeau, who heads out for his first round with world number one Scottie Scheffler and England's Tyrrell Hatton, said, "This is a tough golf course; I like it.

"It really tests every facet of your game. I've got new irons in the bag. They were 3D-printed. They take about an hour to print. From machining and printing and all the different processes we make. If I feel good, I know I can give myself a chance."

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport golf reporter at Royal Birkdale

Tranquility enhances salubrity in this beautiful part of north-west England - until the Open rolls into town every decade or so.

Home owners disappear for the week and rent out their properties - stretching all the way down the coast from Southport to Liverpool - to golfers, fans, media and sponsors.

Last night, the locals were joined by their golf guests for alfresco dining and drinks in Birkdale Village. There was even a group sing-a-long to Wonderwall outside one bar.

This morning, the dog walkers had company on their serene strolls as they were joined by the course walkers.

The Birkdale residents who I have spoken to over the past couple of days all enjoy the sense of occasion which the Open brings to their area.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler's most recent experience of similar conditions was at the Scottish Open last week, where he missed a cut for the first time in four years.

And he expects Royal Birkdale to be a thinking man's course. "The ball's just going to run for forever pretty much," said Scheffler.

"There's a lot of thinking off the tee on whether you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and play from the rough most likely or start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens.

"If it wasn't as firm as it is now there wouldn't be as much decision-making but with the firmness it creates a whole lot more challenges just to try to control your ball and figure out where it's going to end up."

None of this trio find the short grass off the first tee with Justin Rose and Viktor Hovland down the left and Russell Henley down the right.

Fairways are underrated, right?

We'll see how "unpredictable" this rough is (09:37 post)

Image source, Getty Images

Justin Rose may turn 46 later this month but he insists that time is still on his side as he attempts to become the first English player to win the Open Championship since Sir Nick Faldo lifted the Claret Jug for a third time in 1992.

Rose announced himself to the world as a fresh-faced 17-year-old amateur at Royal Birkdale in 1998, chipping in from the rough on the 18th to finish in a tie for fourth, two strokes adrift of eventual winner Mark O'Meara.

Since then Rose, who won the US Open in 2013, has ended up in a tie for second or second on three occasions at the Masters and twice at the Open, with a second major title proving elusive.

“The Open Championship for a British player is the pinnacle of the game for sure. It’s the one that I would love to win the most, for sure,” said Rose.

“To step through my career and not have a jug at the end of it, I’ll always look back at it and go, ‘yeah, that’s a shame’. But I think the Open Championship offers you the longest runway of an opportunity to win one so there’s plenty of time left.

“I’ve had a very good career and 28 years later I’m playing in the Open Championship. If I think about it is still an amazing achievement, just to have the will to keep wanting to be here. I’m very happy with where I’m at. Could I have done more? Could I have won more of what I’ve already won? Yes. Would I love to be a multiple major champion? Yes. Do I feel I could have pushed towards close to a grand slam? Yes.

“I’ve had results that nearly put me in that realm so a little bit of luck here and there, I could be sitting here with a very different career."