The long-awaited return of the British Open golf got under way under blue skies at Royal St George’s on Thursday as former champion Louis Oosthuizen shot to the top of the leaderboard with a six under par round of 64. 

Another previous Open winner Jordan Spieth is just one shot back, alongside fellow American Brian Harman. England’s Richard Bland fired the first shot of the 149th Open Championship, which was delayed a year by the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.