Ewan Murray, our man in South Carolina, has filed his day one report. Here it is! A final round-up of the late-starting stragglers to come, but in the meantime, click below and enjoy. Birdie for Jordan Spieth on 16; he’s back to level par again. Up on 18, Gary Woodland is one turn away from birdie, but he’ll be happy enough with par and a two-under round of 70. A happy ending to Branden Grace’s day. His round looked to be heading south for a while, but he limited the damage to a couple of bogeys, picked up a stroke at the par-five 7th, and now he gets up and down from a deep bunker on 9 to sign for a staunch 70. Cam Davis follows up an eagle on 11 with birdie at 14. He’s a little fortunate with this one, giving a 30-foot putt a good whack; had the hole not got in the way, he could have had quite the tester coming back. The 26-year-old from Sydney, making his PGA debut, is -3. Mickelson pulls his approach into 18 down a swale to the right of the green. He bundles his chip up to three feet, and tidies up for a par and a fine opening round of 70. His playing partner, the European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, scribbles his name on the bottom of a 71. Fine rounds by the old boys. Woodland fires his tee shot at 17 straight at the flag. It’s a heatseeker that stops pin high and leaves a ten-foot chance for a rare birdie on this nerve-shredding par-three. So having mentioned Justin Rose’s steady Faldoesque par golf through 14 (10.59pm), he naturally bogeys 15 and then birdies 16. He’s -1. Back on 14, Spieth’s 20-foot birdie dribbler lips out; nothing much is happening for him as he chases that career slam. Mickelson sends his tee shot at 17 into the deep bunker on the left. He splashes out to a couple of feet, and tidies up for an excellent sandy par. He remains at -2, three shy of the leader Conners, who can’t make his birdie putt, but is more than content to sign for a 67. Few predicted anyone would shoot so low today. -5: Conners (F) -3: Bradley (F), Hovland (F), Koepka (F), Wise (F), Horsfield (F) Corey Conners is bang on it today. He splits the fairway down 18, then swishes a gentle fairway wood straight at the flag. His caddy congratulates him for a “great shot”, and he’s not wrong. The ball lands softly ten feet from the flag. He’ll have that birdie putt for a wonderful opening round of 66. Jordan Spieth just can’t get going. A decent tee shot into the par-three 14th rolls slowly, slowly, slowly towards the back ... then topples gently down the huge bank, 70 feet away. That’s the second time he’s been teased like that today. Shortsided, he does pretty well to flop back up to 18 feet, but can’t make the par saver and slips back to +1 again. He looks a tad deflated as he departs the scene. Another birdie for Phil Mickelson, this time at 16, and the veteran entertainer joins the pack at -2. He’s three off the lead, right in the mix, and 50 years old. A story for the ages could be quietly unfolding here. Meanwhile Sam Horsfield sees a fairly straight 12-foot birdie putt lip out on 9, but he’s signing for a three-under 69. A superb performance by the 24-year-old from Manchester. Conners finds the middle of the par-three 17th. Safe and dry. It should be an easy enough two putts for his par, but he leaves his first one six feet short. Never mind, he knocks in the second and moves to the last, his two-shot lead in tact. Justin Rose is channelling his inner Nick Faldo today. Through 14, he’s made 13 pars and one birdie, early on at 6. He’ll be content enough at -1. Such steadiness suddenly deserts his compatriot Tommy Fleetwood, though. He takes a couple of hacks to extricate himself from the dunes down the left of 15. He ends up with a triple-bogey seven, and all of a sudden a decent level-par round is in dusty ruins. Sam Horsfield makes another birdie, this time at 7, and the 24-year-old Englishman, a two-time winner on the European Tour, joins the group in second place at -3. Branden Grace’s travails continue, though, as he yips a tiddler at the par-three 5th to slip to -1. And Corey Conners makes his birdie putt at 16, and suddenly the leaderboard has an all-new look. -5: Conners (16) -3: Bradley (F), Hovland (F), Koepka (F), Wise (F), Horsfield (17*) -2: Tringale (F), Laird (F), Morikawa (F), Harrington (15), Woodland (14), Smith (14), Streelman (12*), Zalatoris (12) Conners keeps on keeping on. He sends his approach at the par-five 16th from 150 yards to four feet. He’ll have a look at a birdie that’ll take him two shots clear at the top. Meanwhile some welcome news of Sergio, who having turned in 38, birdies 11 and 12 to get himself back to level par. On the par-three 14th, Gary Woodland caresses an iron straight at the flag. The merest hint of a fade maybe. The ball stops six inches short of an ace. He’ll move to -2. And who’s this creeping up the leaderboard after a miserable start that saw him card four bogeys in the first six holes? Why, it’s Lefty! Birdies at 7, 10, 11 and now 15 have taken Phil Mickelson up to -1, and the traces of a smile play across his face! The oldest player to win a major is Julius Boros, who won this title as a 48-year-old in 1968. Phil is 50. He couldn’t, could he? Birdies at 11 and now 13 for Cameron Smith, and the 27-year-old Aussie, fresh off a third top-ten finish at the Masters in four years, is nicely placed at -2. Birdie for Will Zalatoris at 12, and he’s just a couple off the lead too. And finally some good news for Branden Grace, who steadies the ship by scrambling his par at 4 to remain at -2. His putt threatened to stop irritatingly on the lip, but was only teasing the gallery, eventually dropping to the South African’s great relief. John Catlin, the current Irish Open champion, has been handed a one-shot penalty for slow play. He took 74 seconds over a shot on the 16th hole, was issued with a warning, and then was penalised for taking 63 seconds over an approach to the 12th. Great news. If the powers that be could start handing out these sort of penalties like confetti, that would be great, and should get golf moving again. If only to set a good example to ponderous weekend hackers, who need to get a bloody wriggle on as well. We stand with Brooks. Corey Conners takes the lead! He pulls out the putter from off the front of 15, and steers a snaking uphill 50-footer into the hole! That was a lovely putt to follow, as it gently oscillated one way and the other, always looking destined to drop. Could Conners become only the second Canadian to win a major, after Mike Weir’s Masters win of 2003? He’s bang in form right now, and taking it to the next level here. -4: Conners (15) -3: Koepka (F), Bradley (F), Hovland (F), Wise (F) Grace’s wheels continue to wobble ominously. Another slice, and this one flies into the thick stuff down the right of 4. Birdie for Sam Horsfield at 6, meanwhile, and the young Mancunian rises to -2 again. Grace chips back up aggressively - bravely - and gets his reward as his ball bites hard three feet from the flag. The damage is limited to bogey. Meanwhile from the back of 11, Spieth chips up to a couple of feet, and his birdie takes him back to level par. -3: Bradley (F), Hovland (F), Koepka (F), Wise (F), Conners (14) -2: Tringale (F), Laird (F), Morikawa (F), Harrington (13) Grace chips up from the back of 3. It’s heavy handed, and he’s unable to generate any spin. The ball sails through the green, and off the front, heading back down the fairway. He’s been clinging on, and it looks as though the Ocean Course is finally about to take a chunk out of him. Meanwhile Conners can’t make his birdie putt on 14. He stays at -3. Only Martin Laird has made it to -4 today, and he quickly came back to the pack. Grace finds more trouble, this time down 3, clipping his second shot clean off the top of a waste area and through the green. His ball sits down in a thick tuft. Par’s going to be a battle once again. But the other man out there right now at -3, Corey Conners, swishes a lovely tee shot into 14. He’ll have a ten-foot look at birdie. Jordan Spieth’s par effort on 10 makes for even more distressing viewing. A lip-out from a couple of feet that sends the Texan, on a career-slam hunt, out to +1. Meanwhile back on 2, an astonishing par save by Branden Grace, whose second shot plugs so deep in a waste area that he can only see the top third of his ball. Unable to get relief, he has to take a drop ... and then splashes, er, gracefully to four feet, before tidying up for par. He stays at -3. Actually, the coverage of the heron haring after some poor fish or other has reminded me of one of the highlights of the 2012 PGA here at Kiawah: Gator v Snake. Warning: this is not for the squeamish. A distressing rout, the best bit is sadly missing from the clip: a few minutes later, lazy old Gator was pictured floating insouciantly in the water, slowly digesting, smiling, as content as a golf-club captain who had just polished off a large gin and tonic, then told one of the juniors to take off their hat and tuck in their shirt. From herons to eagles, and Patrick ‘I’ve made two’ Cantlay’s absurd up-and-down round continues with a three-putt bogey at 8. He’s level par, and not entirely sure how. A brilliant birdie for the 2019 US Open champ Gary Woodland at 10, sending his tee shot over the flag to a couple of feet, and he’s in red figures at -1. And Wyndham Clark had been going well at -2, but he sends his approach at 13 into the water down the right and the resulting double has him crashing back down to level par. The television coverage concentrates on a heron pursuing its prey, which kind of tells you where we’re at right now. It’s fine slow television, though it doesn’t do much for the old live blog. When we finally switch back, Corey Conners plays a weak approach into 12 that lands short and kicks left, but he gets up and down to remain in a share of the lead at -3. Eagle for the 2008 champion Padraig Harrington at 11! He just about gets onto the front of the green in two, then steers in the long putt. He’s -2. The wind’s dropped a little, but so has the level of excitement. A links longueur. Ian Poulter drops one at 17, having sent his tee shot onto the top of a sandy bank to the left of the green. A weak chip and an underhit putt sealed his fate. He slips back to -1. Meanwhile DJ - who had to settle for an underwhelming par at the par-five 7th, the result of that wild tee shot - stays adrift at +2 after a long birdie effort at 8 slips by. A second eagle of the day for Patrick Cantlay! This one’s less sensational than his hole-out from 140 yards on 2; he’s on 7 in two big hits, and rolls in a 20-footer. All good, except the eagles have sandwiched bogeys at 2, 3 and 5, and he’s only -1 as a result. Not in complete control of his game right now, he walks off looking distinctly unimpressed, despite it all.