​SOUTHPORT, England — Playing major championship golf is challenge. Especially on a firm and fast Royal Birkdale.“It’s one of the hardest links courses I’ve ever played,” Bob MacIntyre said shortly after tapping in for a three-under-par 67 on Thursday, getting his seventh appearance in the Open Championship off to a good start. “Just for the sheer fact of the positions of the pot bunkers on certain holes with the length of the hole.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEager to see the approach of the best players in the world playing one of the most strategic layouts in the Open rota, I picked a good group to follow. Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre, alongside Alex Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler, joined the lead in the clubhouse despite a very conservative game plan.After stepping off his opening tee shot because a drone flying overhead, remember there is history there, he laughed, re-addressed his ball, hit driver over the bunker and made a birdie. From then on, however, the driver was retired in favour of fairways.2286325002Stuart Kerr/R&AMacIntyre hit 5-iron on the second, a hole that Viktor Hovland drove in practice, and left himself 172 yards to the hole. Moments later a cheer from the galleries when nearly holed his approach from short of the fairway bunkers. Immediately to the top of the leaderboard and it wasn’t even 8 a.m. on Thursday morning.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd it was more of the same the rest of the way. Conservative, safe tee shots leaving longer shots that he executed well. A 7-iron off the tee on the par-4 10th hole, a 5-iron at the 510-yard closing hole, his strategy was both obvious and effective.“It was a test of discipline and almost acceptance,” he said after the round. “I probably took the club off the tee which then left a fairly long shot in on some of them, but my job was to get it on the fairway, stay out of these pot bunkers.”2286328749Richard HeathcoteAnd he did that. The only bunker he found all day was a greenside one on the 14th hole, and he made birdie.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementComing off a top-10 finish last year at Royal Portrush, and another top-10 last week at the Scottish Open, the 29-year-old is clearly a fan of battling this style of course.“I enjoy it when I’ve got a fight. I’m not just fighting the golf course, I’m fighting myself, I’m fighting with Mike [his caddie].”MacIntyre appeared happy both with his score and his choice of game plan. One he intends to stick to throughout the week. There’s been plenty of discussion of the design of the course and how, with the firmness we’ve seen this week, it can ask questions of the world’s best golfers.Bob Mac certainly passed the test on Thursday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement• • •Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&am