In the end, it was a par at the first hole for Ian Poulter. But it was an adventure from the start.
Poulter, who plays in the LIV Golf series, received a smattering of boos after his introduction on the opening hole of the 150th Open Championship.
He then nearly hit his tee shot out of bounds.
The first and 18th holes parallel each other on the Old Course, creating a 129-yard-wide fairway. Poulter snap-hooked an iron off the first tee and the low runner stopped just shot of the gates bordering the 18th hole.
Poulter hit the green with his approach shot and two-putted for par, walking off with a 4 and avoiding a comparison to Ian Baker-Finch, who infamously drove his tee shot O.B. in the 1995 Open Championship.
Whatever nerves the Englishman felt dissipated quickly. After pars on his first five holes, he birdied the par-4 sixth and then rolled in a 162-foot putt for eagle at the par-4 ninth to tie the lead at 3 under.
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