Today we saw many contrasts all over the course. To start, in typical links fashion, the front nine of the Old Course moves away from the clubhouse, whereas the back nine moves towards it. Add the wind to this scenario and you get two opposite playing nines. In this case, the front nine was playing easier than the back nine. For example, Sweden's David Lingmerth was making headlines early after he shot a 29 on the front nine. However, as with most players, he struggled on the back nine, shooting a 40 there.
The next contrast was the time of play. The morning players saw a more benign Old Course that was vulnerable at times, especially on the front nine. This is where players like Dustin Johnson were able to go low and get ahead early. As the day carried on, weather conditions deteriorated drastically. Stiff winds blew in, the course became firmer, and the temperature dropped, resulting in much more difficult conditions for the afternoon players. To put things in perspective, scoring average in the morning was about 71, while the scoring average in the afternoon was 72.8. The hardest hole of the day was the par 4 nearly 500 yard 17th AKA the "Road Hole". This is the famous hole where players have a blind tee shot and hazards such as deep bunkers and even a tarmac road along the way. It played with a scoring average of 4.83 and year after year has ranked as the toughest hole on Tour (when the Old Course is playing in the rotation).
Conditions are predicted to worsen for Friday, which will wreak havoc on the leaderboard; the Old Course wasn't going to let players get off that easily. As Zach Johnson said, when the conditions are predicted to be that bad, it's best to get rid of all expectations during your round. But for the fans, worsening weather conditions are always a spectacle and great to watch. It's to be expected at the British Open.
In other news, Tiger Woods sits at T140 at 4-over. He struggled all day with his clubs and often strike was to blame; he fatted a few of his shots, most notable his 2nd shot on the 1st, which found water. His putted also wasn't too hot and he made only half the GIR's. Better luck tomorrow.
Another notable round was that of 2010 Open Champion (the last time the Open was played at the Old Course) Louis Oosthuizen, who shot a 67 and sits at T8 on the leaderboard.
Finally, here's how our picks are doing:
1) Tommy Fleetwood: T18 at 3-under
2) Dustin Johnson: 1st at 7-under
3) Rickie Fowler: T64 at even par
Like most players today, Fleetwood had an excellent front nine and a couple of bogeys on the back nine. He continues his streak of excellent rounds at St. Andrews. Dustin said during his post round interview that the front nine played relatively easy for his game, but he was also under par for the back nine (when most players weren't). Fowler's score doesn't accurately reflect his play today. He teed off during the worst of conditions and made pars mostly, except for a couple of bogeys and a rare eagle at the 10th.
It's been a great opening day and there much more exciting golf to come. Check out our Day 2 recap tomorrow!
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Dustin Johnson is looking for redemption this week at the Open Championship
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