Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez topped the leaderboard at the end of the first day at the British Open Championship at Turnberry, with a six under par 64, equalling the lowest first day score in championship history.
But the day for many, belonged to the veteran five time Open winner Tom Watson, who led the board for much of the day on 65. Watson is just short of his 60th birthday but his play as he led the field was reminiscent of the days when he was at the top of his game bringing to mind the famous 1986 Duel in the Sun battle with Jack Nicklaus on the same links.
Watson finished the day in second on the leaderboard a place he shares with American Ben Curtis.
Championship favourite Tiger Woods got off to a shabby start, managing only a one over par for 71 and with strong winds predicted for the weekend he faces a struggle to make Turnberry his 15th major title.
Europe’s top earner Paul Casey started the day well, but it all went terribly wrong for the world number three, who eventually finished the round on a credible two under 68.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington fared a little worse than Casey on one under 69.
1 comment so far
1 mario // Jul 20, 2009 at 9:57 am
Don’t know what to say. It was an awful moment seeing Tom Watson up to his knees in the rough on that Turnberry playoff. I remember watching di Marco come so close, against Woods, where he seemingly couldn’t get anything to go his way. But that wasn’t a fraction of what happened here. That weird bounce on the 18th was agonising. All credit to Cink; but he had no power over that bounce. We can only hope there’s some higher order where that awful moment was somehow something other than what it seemed. It was a blow for all who have felt their most supreme efforts in life go unrewarded. It was a bitter taste of the indifference of causality. But it was also a wonderful reminder of what can at least be possible. And Tom’s graciousness (in what must have been a totally gut-wrenching defeat… he surely knew he was unlikely ever to come back and get another chance) was deeply inspiring. Sometimes one feels ‘hell, it’s just golf! – sports, money, fame… so what?’ But yesterday was too human for that. I almost wish that players finishing on the same score would share the title.