Golf: Nightmare 18th sees Ryan Fox slide back at the Open Championship first round

New Zealand's Ryan Fox plays his tee shot on the 4th hole on the first day of the Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Photo / AP

Poor finishes to their rounds looked to have derailed the hopes of both Kiwis Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier at the 151st Open Championship.

Being in just the third group to start the Open at Royal Liverpool, a birdie on the second hole meant Fox had an early share lead of the final major of the year.

A second birdie at the par five fifth and he was briefly the outright leader.

But it all went downhill from there as he finished with a seven-over 78 including a triple bogey eight on the final hole. Fox’s up and then only down round included two birdies, six bogeys and the triple, leaving him with a huge task of making the cut at his seventh appearance at the Open.

Hillier will also start the second round near the back of the field after also recording a seven-over 78. Both players sit in a share of 144th, 12 shots back from co-leaders Tommy Fleetwood of England and South Africa amateur Christo Lamprecht, both at five-under.

PGA Championship winner Wyndham Clarke sits two shots off the leader following a 68, along with 50-year-old Stuart Cink.

Fox drained a 35-foot putt on the second hole then chipped on with his second at the par five fifth to within three yards for a much easier birdie. It all looked to be going smoothly early going.

However, it was the par threes where he came unstuck across the morning. His tee shot on the 208 yard sixth went long left, leaving a tricky chip onto the green which saw Fox card his first bogey of the day.

He dropped another shot at the par four eighth when his drive found thick rough. He closed out the front nine at par 35.

A greenside bunker at the 10th led to another bogey before back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14 saw Fox go backwards on the back nine. His sixth dropped shot came at the new par three 17th when his tee shot fell short and to the right and he wasn’t able to scramble the par.

Unfortunately, Fox saved his worst for last. His tee shot on the 18th found the internal out of bounds on the right and his next shot from the tee box went into the left fairway bunker. Hitting his fourth from there, Fox could only manage it 90 yards down the hole and again found the rough before reaching the edge of the green having played five shots. He then missed a three footer for double bogey to walk off the course at seven-over.

Hillier, coming off his maiden DP World Tour victory at the British Masters earlier this month, had a sound start with pars through his opening seven holes. His first dropped shot also came at the par four eighth as it went out with a one-over 36. The 24-year-old then started the back nine with a double bogey six to move to three-over and had a poor finish going bogey-double bogey-bogey across his final three holes.