Friday, July 15, 2016

British Open: Day One Wrap-Up

Well, that was a lot of fun.

Here's the deal with the British Open -- it's played on links courses where the wind is often dreadful.  If those courses had the same type of obstacles that you would find on a championship-style American course like Oakmont or Pinehurst, then no one could break 80 once the wind started to blow.  So the British Open courses are set up in a manner that leaves them relatively defenseless if the wind doesn't blow.

Yesterday, at Royal Troon in Scotland, there was only a light breeze and bright, sunny skies.  Conditions were ripe for low scores, and they got low scores.  The lowest score of all belonged to 46-year-old Phil Mickelson, who posted an almost perfect round:  8 birdies, no bogeys, a 63 that tied the lowest score ever posted in any major tournament.  Mickelson would have had a 62, but his birdie putt on 18 took an inexplicable turn just as it was about to go into the cup.

But Mickelson was not the only star -- or the only American -- putting up low numbers.  As you can see below, there are a number of big stars up near the top.  And since we've been blogging here, I don't remember another leaderboard with more Americans:

1.  P. Mickelson:  -8 (63)

T2.  M. Kaymer (GER):  -5 (66)
T2.  P. Reed:  -5 (66)

T4.  K. Bradley:  -4 (67)
T4.  T. Finau:  -4 (67)
T4.  B. Horschel:  -4 (67)
T4.  Z. Johnson:  -4 (67)
T4.  S. Kjeldsen (DEN):  -4 (67)
T4.  S. Stricker:  -4 (67)
T4.  A. Sullivan (ENG):  -4 (67)
T4.  J. Thomas:  -4 (67)

37 comments:

  1. I am for Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas.

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  2. Right now, the cut line is 2 over par.

    Spieth is 3 over with 8 holes left.
    Justin Thomas is 3 over with 3 holes left.

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  3. Meanwhile, McIlroy is 5 under with 10 holes left.

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  4. McIlroy bogeys the 9th hole and drops back to 4 under.

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  5. Wow ... you must be right about the weather. The only golfer in the top 11 on the course is Steve Stricker, and he's even for the day and 4-under/T6 through No. 13. Nobody is charging this afternoon.

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  6. Justin Thomas finished at 2 over par, and he will make the cut.

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  7. Rory has fallen back to 2 under with a bogey on 12.

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  8. Spieth finishes at 4 over par, and he'll wait to see if that's enough to make the cut.

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  9. Here's the leaderboard, which hasn't changed in a long time:

    1. P. Mickelson: -10 (36 holes)
    2. H. Stenson (SWE): -9 (36)
    T3. S. Kjeldsen (DEN): -7 (36)
    T3. K. Bradley: -7 (36)
    5. Z. Johnson: -5 (36)

    All of these guys played in the afternoon yesterday and the morning today. A lot of the big stars -- including Rory, Jason Day, and Spieth -- were sent out in the morning yesterday and the afternoon today. The weather has simply destroyed that half of the draw; no one still on the course is more than one shot under par.

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  10. For me, this tournament has now turned into a big can-Phil-do-it?/Olympics-preliminary affair.

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  11. The projected cut is now at 4 over, which means that Colin Montgomerie, Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker, Danny Willett, Jim Furyk, and Bubba Watson -- all of whom finished at exactly 4 over par -- will be around for the weekend.

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  12. J.B. Holmes, at 2 under par, is in a tie for 15th place. Rory is also at 2 under.

    Jason Day, at 1 over par, is in a tie for 41st place.

    Justin Thomas, at 2 over par, is in a tie for 50th place.

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  13. Through 10 holes today, Campbellsville J.B. is now 6-under/T3 for the tournament!

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  14. All television shows should be broadcast from outside in Scotland during the month of July. I am always so ready for this type of weather by the time July roles around here.

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  15. T1. P. Mickelson: -11 (43 holes)
    T1. H. Stenson: -11 (43 holes)
    3. S. Kjeldsen: -7 (44 holes)
    T4. K. Bradley: -6 (46 holes)
    T4. B. Haas: -6 (44 holes)

    J.B. Holmes is now 5-under and one of three players tied for sixth.

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  16. And now Mickelson is back in the lead after a Stenson birdie at 8. Mickelson has all pars today, except for a birdie at 3. Stenson fired birdies on 1, 3 and 4 and took over the lead from Phil briefly, but now he has settled back into second after bogeys at 6 and 8.

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  17. Meanwhile, the Campbellsville bureau reports sadly that our J.B. has bogeyed 14 and 15 to fall back to 4-under for eighth place alone.

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  18. Mickelson and Stenson take pars on 9 and turn to the back without anyone behind them much moving toward them on "moving day." Third-place Søren Kjeldsen appears he will be dropping at least one stroke on No. 10.

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  19. Mickelson and Stenson drive to within about 10 feet of each other on the No. 10 fairway, just before Kjeldsen lumbers in with a double on the green ahead of him.

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  20. Mickelson reaches the front of the green on his second shot; Stenson is about five or six feet short, on a slope up to the green.

    Stenson's third shot is not good, but he rolls in a very length par-saver.

    Derring-do Phil safely lags and puts in. Par again.

    1. P. Mickelson: -11 (46 holes)
    2. H. Stenson: -11 (46 holes)
    3. B. Haas: -6 (49 holes)

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  21. "Beelzebub's Beard" and "Planes, Trains and Triple Bogeys" are two of the descriptors the NBC boys have used to describe No. 11. It honestly does look like two pieces of golf course--a tee and a green--have been dropped into rural-electrified countryside along an L&N spur and county highway somewhere in western Kentucky.

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  22. Mickelson and Stenson, however, survive adventures on 11 with up-and-down-for-par pars.

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  23. J.B. Holmes (4-under) is the leader in the clubhouse!

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  24. Phil finds big trouble off the tee on 12. Stenson is in the fairway.

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  25. Well, while I was eating my lunch, Mickelson saved par (somehow) on No. 12, birdied 13 and bogeyed 14. Stenson parred, parred and birdied. All of that adds up to 11-under/T1 for these two guys.

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  26. Johnny Miller has decided that Phil Mickelson is playing too conservatively--putting from off the green when he should be chipping, for example.

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  27. Bill Haas, 34-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, closes a 2-under round, and he's at 6-under for the tournament and third place alone.

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  28. T1. P. Mickelson: -11 (51 holes)
    T1. H. Stenson: -11 (51 holes)
    3. B. Haas: -6 (54 holes)
    4. A. Johnston: -5 (54 holes)
    5. J.(B.) Holmes: -4 (54 holes)

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  29. Par-5 16: Mickelson has about six or eight feet for birdie; Stenson needs up and down from a bunker.

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  30. Mickelson gets his birdie; Stenson, his par. Phil's up by one, headed to No. 17.

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  31. 17: Bogey, Mickelson; birdie, Stenson. So now Henrik's our leader, by one.

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  32. So does Stenson. OK, this is a great tournament.

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