Quiet day at Turnberry; low scores dominate
Mike Dudurich
Posted 2009-07-16
BRITISH OPEN ROUND ONE WRAPUP 1
What happened Thursday in the first round of the 138th Open Championship is exactly what detractors point to when saying that Turnberry is not a good enough test for 156 of the best golfers in the world.
Because there was no wind, no rain and temperatures summer-like for Scotland, very little happened other than the fact that 50 players posted rounds in the 60s. .
To put that into perspective, a total of 31 players had rounds in the 60s in the entire 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale when the wind blew ferociously most of the time. .
It’s been said time and time over the years. The only defense links courses have are the elements and when the elements go dormant, scores go down … significantly. .
The Firth of Clyde, for much of the day, was smooth and shiny, almost glass-like. That was a sure sign to the players as they arrived at Turnberry that they were not going to have to battle much in the way of nasty weather. .
Early on, a 59-year-old showed them just what was possible. Tom Watson, who already owns five of those Claret Jugs went out and posted a 65, yes, a five-under par 65 .
Near the end, a guy who loves to chomp on cigars – but wouldn’t do so in a major – chomped on Turnberry. Miguel Angel Jimenez came within a shot of tying the record for low round in a major championship, shooting a sparkling 64 to take the outright lead not long before the round ended.
In between, Ben Curtis shot 65, Mark Calcavecchia and Mark O'Meara shot 67s and Tom Lehman and John Daly got in at 68s. There’s a common thread between that group and Watson. Give up?
They’re all former Open champions.
"One of those golf god's days when the past champions played pretty good," Daly said.
“The older guys have an advantage,” Watson said. “We've played under these conditions and we kind of get a feel for it. And that feel is worth its weight in gold.”
Watson knows he’s having fun hitting quality golf shots and competing on a course he loves. He has a “zip” to his step and a 65 under his belt. He has bigger aspirations, too.
“How amazing would it be? It would be amazing,” Watson said, dreaming out loud about a possible 6th Open title. “You can put all kinds of superlative adjectives and all sorts of things to it. … I don't think about it. It's one of those things that it will happen if it happens. And then you ask me the question and I'll tell you what it would be, what I'm feeling at the moment. I can't tell you. I can't speculate what it's going to feel like because I haven't done it yet.”
While none of those former champions have shown the sort of form recently that would allow the “favorite” tag to be attached to them, Jimenez would not even have been on anyone’s “contender” list coming in.
In 16 career Open starts, Jimenez has finished in the top 10 once. That came when he finished tied for third at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s back in 2001. The closest the Spaniard has come to winning a major was a share of second place in the 2000 U.S. Open. He came up a mere 15 shots short to Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach.
"It is different than what we're used to playing, no?" he said after the round when asked about links golf. "I like links courses, of course, because it's not only you get on the tee and bang, you put the ball in the air and it stops. You need to play; you need to have a game plan, no? You need to avoid the bunkers and keep it on the fairway. You see all the slopes around the greens to put the balls away. You need to play and you need to have passion and focus and all those things."
Curtis and Watson are joined at 5-under by Japanese Tour regular Kenichi Kuboya who got into the clubhouse late in the day on the wings of a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie finish.
There is a gaggle of players at 4-under par: John Senden, Steve Stricker, Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink, and Mathew Goggin.
The most prominent player not to take advantage of the benign conditions Thursday was Tiger Woods.
He struggled to a 71 with one wayward shot after another. He even dunked his ball in Wilson’s Burn, which led to the last of his four bogeys at No. 16.
“I certainly made a few mistakes out there,” Woods said. “Realistically, I probably should have shot about 1 or 2 under par.”
One of the young stars expected to be a force this week, Anthony Kim, suffered a neck or upper-back injury early in the round, took a 9 on the second hole, found Wilson’s Burn on the 16th and finished with a 73.
Two-time defending champion Padraig Harrington, trying to become the first player since Peter Thomson in 1954-56 to win the Open three years in a row, was solid in posting a 69.
And last year’s toast of Birkdale, Greg Norman, wobbled to a 77 on Thursday and will face a considerable challenge to make the cut.
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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf.
He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com.
Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August.
The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.
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