(AP Photo/Tim Hales)
1. John Daly
Daly surprised us all this morning, shooting a 6 under 66. On his first Open visit back to St. Andrews since winning here in ’95 and wearing the loudest pants in the tournament, he made 4 consecutive birdies during a faultless round. The Open has an uncanny knack of being favorable to the older generation of golfers. Experience counts for a lot in links golf, and at 44, John Daly has plenty. But who knows what tomorrow will bring? With so many highs and lows in such a turbulent career, anything is possible. I’m definitely rooting for him.
2. Rory McIlroy
The wig-wearing Northern Irish prodigy is almost certainly a future major winner and links courses are where he learned his trade. Although his 63 (-9) is now the lowest opening round Open history (and matches the lowest round ever in a major), I don’t feel particularly surprised by this exceptional performance. Simply put, the kid is an unbelievable talent. Weather conditions proved to be in his favor today but I have a strong feeling he will be around on Sunday.
4. Tiger Woods
With most of us hoping that Tiger is heading closer towards Jack Nicklaus’ records and further away from his “transgressions”, his 67 (-5) was a solid opening and shows signs of his form returning. Although slow to start, he “let the round mature”, and his first new putter in 11 years started to work. No one has won the Open here 3 times and we know Tiger likes to break records if they’re within reach. He loves this course and his game definitely looks like it’s coming back.
5. Phil Mickelson
The Open Championship doesn’t treat the World no.2 very well at all. His record in this major is dismal. Whether he puts too much pressure on himself to perform, or his style of play doesn’t suit the conditions, his performance today was below average to say the least. He hit only 7 out of 14 (wide) fairways and his back-swing seemed to get further past parallel as the round progressed (he’s working on exactly the opposite with Butch Harmon). Somehow, I don’t think it will be Phil’s year.
5. Road Bunker
The infamous bunker protecting the 17th green proved to costly for some today and could play a part in deciding the champion. With a vertical face taller than the average player, if the ball lands deep inside the only option is to go backwards. Today we saw players putt backwards to give themselves a shot out of the sand. We also saw Anders Hansen take 4 shots to get out and made a quadruple bogey 8.
Can’t wait for tomorrow!
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