The Open golfer endures absolute stinker after disgusting 'good luck' incident fails

Adam Hadwin suffered a nightmare start in his opening round at Royal Troon after the Open Championship star was dealt a disgusting ‘good luck’ charm.

Hadwin posted a revolting image of what looked like bird poo on his jumper to his Instagram account ahead of the start of The Open in Ayrshire.

The post was accompanied by the caption: “They say it’s good luck right?”

However, after just five holes of The Open, it was clear the old urban myth wasn’t working in Hadwin’s favour this time around, given he’d fallen three shots above par.

Bogeying three of his first five efforts, luck certainly wasn’t on his side during a soggy morning on the west coast of Scotland.

The poor start initially threw Hadwin’s hopes of making the cut into doubt, but much to the relief of the 36-year-old, he did manage to steady the ship afterwards.

Following his bogey on the fifth, Hadwin managed to find par on the next five holes, but hopes of a deep run this weekend may be already out of the question.

Hadwin wasn’t the only player stuck on Thursday morning, with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Rory McIlroy, also struggling for form.

While his opening few holes weren’t as damaging as Hadwin’s, McIlroy was forced to fight back early doors, having bogeyed the first.

That rendered meaningless later in the morning, with a stinker on the eighth seeing him hit a double bogey for a par three hole.

All eyes were on the four-time major winner, given it was just the second time he’d taken to the course since last month’s US Open collapse.

Perhaps romantically for McIlroy, his last major win came in this competition 10 years ago, with the Northern Irishman keen to banish his now infamous decade-long draught.

It isn’t just the Claret Jug that’s on offer for McIlroy this week, with a record purse having been put forward by the R&A.

The Open winner will bag a handsome £2.4million from a total fund of £13million, but the R&A’s CEO, Martin Slumbers, is concerned about the constant rise in prize money at major championships.

Offering the lowest amount of money to the winner out of the four golf majors, Slumbers said: “We remain concerned about the impact substantial increases in men’s professional prize money are having on the perception of the sport and its long-term financial sustainability."

It isn’t just the three other majors that boast bigger purses, with a total of 28 different professional tournaments offering more prize money to male golfers than golf’s oldest competition.

But when asked if it’s likely to damage The Open’s reputation, Slumbers responded: “A) I didn’t know (it was) 28, and B), I don’t care. That’s not what this is about.”