Notebook, Round 1: British Open
By John Bush
Weather: Rain, sometimes heavy, with occasional drier spells. Winds increasing throughout the day to 15-20 mph out of the SW. High in the mid-60s
2010 Quail Hollow Championship winner Rory McIlroy recorded a 9-under 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead by two strokes over Louis Oosthuizen at the 2010 British Open Championship, equaling the lowest score in major championship history.
| McIlroy is one of eight players to card a 63 at the British Open and the first to do so in the opening round: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players who have posted 63 at the other major championships:
• Masters Tournament -- Nick Price, Greg Norman
• U.S. Open -- Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Vijay Singh
• PGA Championship -- Bruce Crampton, Raymond Floyd, Gary Player, Vijay Singh, Michael Bradley, Brad Faxon, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Thomas Bjorn, Tiger Woods
The previous first-round low score at the British Open was 64, set on six occasions and most recently by Miguel Angel Jimenez at Turnberry in 2009.
McIlroy is making his eighth-career start in a major championship and his third at the British Open (T42-2007, T47-2009). His best finish in each is as follows: Masters (T20 in 2009), U.S. Open (T10 in 2009), British Open (T42 in 2007), PGA Championship (T3 in 2009).
McIlroy has three rounds in the 60s at the British Open and all have come in the first round (2010-63, 2009-69, 2007-68).
The PGA TOUR has had 11 winners in their 20s in 2010, compared to seven last year. McIlroy added his name to that list with his win at the Quail Hollow Championship at the age of 20 years, 11 months and 28 days.
McIlroy will be 21 year, 2 months and 14 days old on Sunday. That would make him the third youngest winner of the British Open. Here's a look at the current list:
- Tommy Morris Jr. 1868 17 years, 5 months, 3 days
- Willie Auchterlonie 1893 21 years, 24 days
- Seve Ballesteros 1979 22 years, 3 months, 12 days
Prior to Thursday, Rory McIlroy had never held a lead on the PGA TOUR, with the exception of his lead at the conclusion of the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship. His previous best position after a first round was T3 at the 2007 British Open (finished T42).
John Daly's 6-under 66 on Thursday equals his best round at the British Open (second-round 66 en route to a T14 finish in 1993). It is his eighth round in the 60s at the Open, and third at St. Andrews (first-round 67 in 1995, second-round 69 in 2005).
Daly's 66 equals his best round on TOUR since a second-round 63 at the 2007 Frys.com Open (T44).
This week is the 60th start in a major championship for Daly. He is making his 17th start at the British Open, with eight made cuts and three top-20 finishes. Two of those finishes occurred at St. Andrews, winning in 1995 and finishing T15 in 2005. He finished T14 at Royal St. George's in 1993.
Daly is making his 13th start of the season on the PGA TOUR. He has eight made cuts and a T24 at the Puerto Rico Open his lone top-25 finish. His previous best round in 2010 was a 66 -- posted in round three at the Puerto Rico Open and round one at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods posted a 5-under 67 in his bid for his 15th major championship victory. In his two previous British Open victories at St. Andrews, he opened with rounds of 67 (2000) and 66 (2005).
Woods hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday for the first time since the third round of the 2008 Buick Invitational and the first time in a Major since the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont. The last time he hit all 18 greens in regulation was the final round of the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship.
| Tiger Woods has three wins at the British Open (2000, 2005, 2006). He is hoping to join a list of 10 players who have won at least four Open titles: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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• Tiger Woods at the British Open
Professional Starts: 13 (1997-2010); Wins: 3 (2000, 2005, 2006)
Opens at St. Andrews: 4 (T68-1995, 1-2000, 1-2005, TBD-2010)
Top-10s: 7 (3-1998, T7-1999, W-2000, T4-2003, T9-2004, W-2005, W-2006)
• Tiger Woods at Major Championships
Career Professional Majors: 53 (counting this week)
Cuts Made: 50 (2006 U.S. Open, 2009 British Open)
Career Major Victories: 14 (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 Masters; 2000, 2002, 2008 U.S. Open; 2000, 2005, 2006 British Open; 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 PGA Championship)
Career Major Top-10s: 34 (11-Masters; 7-British Open; 8-PGA Championship; 8-U.S. Open)
Marcel Siem, making his first start in a major championship, opened with a 5-under 67. Nine players have won the British Open in their first appearance, with Willie Park Sr. the first to do so in 1860 at Prestwick and Ben Curtis the last at Royal St. George's in 2003.
Both of Marcel Siem's previous starts on the PGA TOUR came at the Deutsche Bank Championship, finishing T32 in 2005 and missing the cut in 2004.
Siem's 62 on day two of the 2005 Deutsche Bank Championship equaled the TPC Norton course record at the time, later broken by Vijay Singh in 2006 and Mike Weir in 2008.
Andrew Coltart, a 40-year-old native of Dumfries, Scotland, carded a 66 for just his sixth round in the 60s in 37 overall rounds at the British Open. Thursday's effort equaled his best score at the Open, a third-round 66 at Turnberry in 1994 (finished T32).
Coltart, who has never played in a TOUR event outside of the majors, is making his 12th start at the Open. His best finish was a T18 in 1999 at Carnoustie. His only other top-20 finish was a T20 in 1995.
Defending champion Stewart Cink opened with a 2-under 70 in his 13th start at the British Open and third at St. Andrews (T41-2000, MC-2005).
Cink is attempting to become the seventh player to post consecutive British Open victories since 1951 (and the 17th overall): Padraig Harrington (2007-08), Tiger Woods (2005-06), Tom Watson (1982-83), Lee Trevino (1971-72), Arnold Palmer (1961-62) and Peter Thomson (1954-56).
Ernie Els carded a 3-under 69 on Thursday, pulling within one of Nick Faldo for the most sub-70 scores at the British Open (37 -- Faldo, 36 -- Ernie Els, 33 -- Jack Nicklaus). Faldo opened with a 72 on Thursday.
After missing the cut in his British Open debut in 1989, Els has finished outside of the top 30 just once (T34-2005) in 18 consecutive appearances, including 12 top-10s and eight top-5s.
Phil Mickelson opened with a 1-over 73. The 2010 Masters champion has just one top-10 in 12 previous professional starts at the British Open (3-2004).
Mickelson began play on Thursday with 12 straight pars. Here's a look at his longest consecutive-par streaks on TOUR:
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Mickelson began play at this year's British Open with 12 consecutive pars, the longest streak of holes without a bogey to begin the British Open by Mickelson over his last 15 starts here. It is his longest such streak to begin a major since the 2004 U.S. Open, when he played his first 15 holes without a bogey (Elias Notes).
Miscellaneous Notes
Seventy-three players carded under-par scores on Thursday, the most at the British Open since 1970. Four of the seven highest totals of sub-par first-round scores have taken place at St. Andrews (2010, 2000, 1995, 1990): 73 -- 2010; 67 -- 2006; 59 -- 1995; 56 -- 1992 ; 50 -- 2009, 2000, 1990
| Here's a look at scores for first-round leaders at British Opens hosted at St. Andrews since 1970: | ||||||||||||||||||
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The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win six of 28 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Lee Westwood at the St. Jude Classic.
Since 1975, just five first-round leaders of the British Open have gone on to win: Tiger Woods (2005), John Daly (1995), Greg Norman (1993), Seve Ballesteros (1988) and Tom Watson (1980).
Lucas Glover posted a 5-under 67 for his first sub-70 score in 13 overall rounds at the British Open.
Active consecutive major appearances:
Singh, Vijay 65
Weir, Mike 46
Garcia, Sergio 45
Allenby, Robert 41
Scott, Adam 37
Choi, K.J. 34
Cink, Stewart 30
Curtis, Ben 29
Amateur Leaderboard:
Jin Jeong 68
Eric Chun 71
Byeong-Hun An 72
Jamie Abbott 73
Tyrrell Hatton 78
Victor Dubuisson 80
Laurie Canter 81
Past Champion Leaderboard:
John Daly 66
Tiger Woods 67
Ernie Els 69
Paul Lawrie 69
Mark O'Meara 69
Stewart Cink 70
Mark Calcavecchia 70
Tom Lehman 71
Nick Faldo 72
Todd Hamilton 72
Padraig Harrington 73
Tom Watson 73
Sandy Lyle 75
Ben Curtis 76
Justin Leonard 76
David Duval 77
Bogey-free rounds:
63-Rory McIlroy; 66-Steven Tiley, Bradley Dredge; 67-Nick Watney, Y.E. Yang; 68-Camilo Villegas, Henrik Stenson; 69-Steve Marino, Robert Allenby, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer
The par-4 17th hole played the toughest on Thursday with a 4.60 average, yielding just five birdies (Peter Hanson, Tano Goya, Charl Schwartzel, Tom Pernice Jr., Simon Khan). The par-5 fifth hole was the easiest at 4.52.
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