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He went into 146th Open Championships at Royal Birkdale claiming he was ‘living the dream’, but not even in his wildest dreams could Welshman Stuart Manley have envisaged topping the leaderboard after his first round.
The 38-year-old from Mountain Ash made the most of his early start in the second trio to tee off at 6.46am to steal a march on some of the best players in the world. His two under par round may not have kept him ahead of the field by the end of the round, but it has guaranteed him bit of a lie in on Friday morning as the others scramble to stay in touch to make the cut for the weekend.
His first round total of 68 was achieved in the toughest conditions of the day and included a mere 26 putts, saw him hit 57% of the fairways and average 284 yards off the tee. And one of the best rounds of his career to date came after he started with a bogey five on the opening hole.
He picked up the first of two birdies on the sixth hole s he went out in 34. He suffered another bogey on the 14th hole, but finished in style with the tournament’s first eagle on the 567 yard par five 17th hole despite hitting his second shot into one of the notorious pot bunkers at the side of the green.
But instead of struggling to get out and hold what little green he had to work with, Manley went ahead and holed his bunker shot for an unlikely eagle. To make matters even better he bagged a birdie on the 18th to take an early lead.
“I played pretty good and I’m happy with the numbers. I managed my game well, and plotted my way around the course pretty well, although I still didn’t play that well,” said Manley.
“It was a nice achievement to get a place in The Open at the start of the year in Johannesburg. That allowed me to prepare properly for what is the biggest event in my career
“It is the first time I’ve ever qualified for a major and that has made it really exciting. It’s one of the things I wanted to tick off on my bucket list.
“I’ve been dreaming about it for years, decades – you try to qualify every year and I’ve been very close a few times. But this year I qualified in February and I came up to Birkdale in March to have a look and to play here.
“It was very bleak on that occasion, but I wanted to see what I would be facing this week. That trip prepared me for my first round.
“I played 18 holes in practice and the course was completely different to March. The crowds were incredible, but one thing that didn’t change was the fact the first tee shot is the toughest on the course.”
Having set the early standard, Manley saw fellow Brit Ian Poutler and American Justin Thomas squeeze past him with scores of 67 before two more Americans, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka went to -5 with rounds of 65.
But none of that could take the shine off a day that Manley, who only turned to golf as a career after failing to become a professional footballer following trials with Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Luton Town. He also spent time as a youngster playing at Cardiff City and Swansea City.
“I might be 38, but I feel like a spring chicken. I had a couple of trials with several football clubs when I was younger, but I was never going to be another Ryan Giggs,” added Manley.
Football’s loss was very much Welsh golf’s gain and, after spending four years on a golf scholarship at the University of West Florida, Manley famously helped Great Britain & Ireland to win the Walker Cup in 2003 with a last match singles victory over America’s Trip Kuehne to secure a 12 ½ – 11 ½ victory.
Manley booked his ticket to his first major by finishing joint second at the Johannesburg Open. Since then, though, he has made the cut just once in 10 competitions.
If he can build on his opening round on Friday then there is every chance of him playing all weekend and really entering ‘dreamland’.