Callum Shinkwin faces a battle to make the cut at his first major championship after a double bogey six at the 18th saw him finish his first round at The Open on two-over-par.

The Moor Park Golf Club professional was on track to finish on level par at Royal Troon, but his two dropped shots at the par four 18th leave him in a share of 94th place overnight, ten behind opening round leader Phil Mickleson.

The 23-year-old, who was in the last group out at the South Ayrshire links, came into the championship in fine form after securing back-to-back top-ten finishes on the European Tour. And that confident approach continued at the start of his round with birdies on two, five and seven to move to three-under-par.

However, the Bushey-based player dropped his first shot of the round at the par three eighth – the famous ‘Postage Stamp’ – and another at ten to move back to one-under-par.

Troon is notorious for the difficulty of its last nine holes and Shinkwin, who played 11 holes in practice with world number three Jordan Spieth yesterday, was back to level par after a bogey five on 15 before his round ended in a manner he would not have wished for on the par 71 course.

Shinkwin’s playing partners fared better in their opening round; fellow Englishman Ryan Evans finished on level par while South African Zander Lombard lies in a share of 22nd place overnight on two-under-par.

The trio are due to start their second round at 11.15am tomorrow.