Shane Lowry suffers out-of-body experience

Golf is a mysterious beast at times but for Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne the fine line between the sublime and the ridiculous blurred a little in the first round of The Open.

Blue skies, a light breeze and sparkling sunshine invited optimism for the man who almost won the US Open a few weeks ago and also for the rookie who led last year’s Open Championship with a round to go when still an amateur.

Both have touched the Holy Grail and had it cruelly snatched from their grasps. Yesterday, the golfing gods simply laughed hard in their faces.