PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The first round of The Open included a little more work than Kevin Kisner had expected.
Kisner’s caddie, Duane Bock, injured his right calf, which is slightly ironic given the generous size of Bock’s calves, on Wednesday and the three-time PGA Tour winner had to enlist the services of swing coach John Tillery for the opening round.
“[Tillery] was good. We had a good time,” Kisner said. “It was a little different but I think in the end it could probably help me. So [Tillery] can see it live in the flesh right beside me and see what happens in certain situations.”
Full-field scores from the 148th Open Championship
Full coverage of the 148th Open Championship
The bigger challenge for Kisner on Thursday was catching up on all the homework Bock had done at Royal Portrush to prepare for this week.
“It’s just so different. The routine is different, me doing my own yardages for the first time in a long time, not really paying any attention to it early in the week because Dewey always caddied early in the week,” said Kisner, who added that Bock planned to have an MRI on his calf on Thursday.
Kisner’s replacement caddie didn’t seem to impact Kisner’s play. He shot a 1-under 70 and was tied for 18th when he completed his round with an eagle at the second and birdies at Nos. 4, 8, 16 and 17.