British Open has 5-way tie for the lead in fickle weather with Scottie Scheffler in the mix

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The British Open had a little bit of everything Thursday, from sunshine to rain, a breeze to strong gusts. And no surprise, it had Scottie Scheffler right in the mix. Former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick handled the notorious "Calamity Corner" par-3 16th by chipping in for birdie. Harris English, whose longtime caddie couldn't get a travel visa for the UK because of prison time served 20 years ago, put his short-game coach on the bag and made seven birdies. They were among five players tied for the lead at 4-under 67, the largest logjam after 18 holes at the British Open since there was a six-way tie in 1938. One shot behind was Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who has not finished out of the top 10 in the last four months, a stretch that includes another major among three wins. He was satisfied with the day's work of 68, even while hitting only three of 14 fairways. Rory McIlroy made bogey on the opening hole before a massive gallery and overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch with a key birdie on No. 17. He was satisfied with the day's work of 68. "It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time," McIlroy said. "So to shoot under par was a good effort." It's not that golf's best were necessary wild off the tee. There was that small matter of weather, often the greatest defense of links golf, which brought occasional rain, constant wind and rounds that lasted nearly six hours. That's why Scheffler seemed perplexed about so much attention on his accuracy off the tee. "I actually thought I drove it pretty good," he said. "I don't know what you guys are seeing. When it's raining sideways, believe it or not, (it's) not that easy to get the ball in the fairway. "Really only had one swing I wasn't too happy with, on the second hole. But outside that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple of rounds." There also was his 4-iron to 3 feet on the 16th for birdie, the start of a birdie-birdie-par finish. But no one could go extremely low. Jacob Skov Olesen, the British Amateur champion last year from Denmark, was the first player to get to 5 under until a bogey at the last. He was joined at 67 by Li Haotong of China, and then Fitzpatrick joined the group with his marvelous chip-in. Christiaan Bezuidenhout was the only player from the afternoon wave to join them at 67. Fitzpatrick reached a low point in his game at The Players Championship and appears to be back on track, particularly with what he called a well-rounded game in tough conditions on these links. He is coming off a tie for fourth last week at the Scottish Open. The chip-in was his highlight, from well below the green to the right and into the cup on the fly. "A bit of luck, obviously," Fitzpatrick said. "Sometimes you need that. It just came out a little bit harder than I anticipated and on the perfect line." Li might have had the most impressive round, keeping bogeys off his card by holing a 10-foot par putt on the final hole. Another bogey-free round belonged to 44-year-old Justin Rose, in the group at 69 that included 52-year-old Lee Westwood, former Open champion Brian Harman and Lucas Glover, who was tied for the lead until a pair of bogeys early on the back nine. English and Olesen were the only players to reach 5 under at any point.