Golf Joaquin Niemann starts the Open among the top 20

The last major of the year has a Chilean significance. Joaquín Niemann started the Open in a great way, finishing in 18th place after a day in which he matched the requirements of the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland.

I start with a very good feeling that will allow him to approach the second round a few shots behind the leaders and in front of big stars of the circuit like Jon Rahm (+2) (+2), Jordan Spieth (+2), Viktor Hovland (+4), Bryson DeChambeau (+5), Rory McIlroy (+7), Tiger Woods (+8) and Cameron Smith (+9).

And high cards were a trend on Thursday, allowing only 30 of the 162 players to overcome or match the demands of the course. Morning rain and relentless wind complicated the cards for all the players, forcing more of a survival round than a big shot.

It was on this stage that the best Niemann appeared. He only suffered penalties in the eighth and nineth, managing to score points in the seventh and 13th to be equal with the peloton. A result that he himself explained once his first adventure of the week was over: “You have to play incredible to make scores and at the same time, you have to be quite conservative. This terrain greatly rewards consistency, being in the middle of the fairwayin the Green. You have to be consistent with that game strategy,” he said.

And the characteristics of the course, embedded in the coast of the Firth of Clyde, force golfers of the “North American” school to make major adjustments. The style of the stage is not in line with the PGA or LIV tournaments, which leads to a continuous challenge. This is how Talagante explains it, who in any case embraces the unknown. “It’s another golf course. It’s different. There’s wind, the climate changes. There are holes where it rains, others where it stops raining. The wind is constant, but being able to commit to shots, different trajectories, heights, that amuses me a lot,” he said.

Totally different sensations from those experienced by the three greatest emblems of world golf present in Scotland: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. All three golfers were over par after the first 18 holes and at least two seriously compromised their chances of qualifying this Friday.

These are Woods and McIlroy, who signed cards of +8 and +7 respectively. For the man born in Cyprus, it is a further blow to his desire to become competitive again. For the Northern Irishman, this situation was completely out of his plans, because he did not only arrive in Scotland as world number two and vice-champion of the US Open. In addition, last week he had ranked fourth at the Scottish Open.