The Open

[94duke]

The British Open is in progress, and as of 8:30 EDT, Tom Watson is the clubhouse leader at -5. Tiger is +1 (T46) after 16 holes.

[4decadedukie]

Go Tommy!

[hurleyfor3]

My favorite golfer whose initials are TW (and who went to Stanford) is leading!

Last year it was Norman, this year it's Tom. Who leads the first round next year? Seve?

[94duke]

I'm just peeking at the leaderboard from time-to-time while at work, but Tiger finished his round at +1. Stewart Cink temporarily tied Tom Watson at -5 when he made birdie on 17, but he turned around and made bogey on 18 to finish at -4.

For the time being Watson is sole leader at -5.

[hurleyfor3]

Course seems to be playing pretty easy. Three people are at -3 at or before the turn... and 17 and 18 are playing pretty easy. I doubt Tom will finish with the lead, but it's fun seeing him up there for the time being.

[94duke]

Miguel Jimenez has posted a -6.
Still quite a few guys on the course.

[rthomas]

Not only Tiger and Watson, but there are alot of scores that are extremely surprising today.

Ogilvy and Poulter +5
Norman +7
Kim +3
Mahan +2
Monty tied with Tiger

John Daly -2 !!!!!

Glover +2 not so suprising with his schedule since the US Open

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I still like Tiger's chances .

[94duke]

Watson is having a rough start to the day with 1 birdie, 1 par, and 3 bogies.

[mr. synellinden]

He just made his fourth consecutive bogey on the par 5 7th, which is as much of a birdie hole as there is on the course. He is now +4 for the day and -1 for the tourney.

If he can steady himself and play the rest of the way no worse than +1 and finish at Even or better, he will be in okay shape. But this round has 80 written all over it.

[hurleyfor3]

I only discovered now Tom is paired with Sergio Garcia. A bad round turns into torture when you also have to put up with one of the slowest players around. (And Tom himself has served as a paragon of efficient play over the years. These are the things you learn when you care about players other than Tiger.)

Today seems tougher all around.

[94duke]

Watson made back-to-back birdies and is +2 today, -3 overall.
Tiger is even today with 5 pars.

[mr. synellinden]

Did he? At first the leaderboard showed him moving to -3 with a birdie on 10, and then they changed it to a par. That was confusing.

[hurleyfor3]

I saw that too. Jason Sobel's blog (ESPN) says Watson parred 10 to stay at -2.

But now the Open's own scoreboard says he birdied 11 anyway to get to -3 for real.

Minus three is going to look very, very good today if he can figure out a way to stabilize things. Nice round for the Calculator, one hole to go to finish at -4. He's no spring chicken either.

[94duke]

That was very weird. I'm glad it wasn't just me that saw that!

[mr. synellinden]

I saw that too. Jason Sobel's blog (ESPN) says Watson parred 10 to stay at -2.

But now the Open's own scoreboard says he birdied 11 anyway to get to -3 for real.

Minus three is going to look very, very good today if he can figure out a way to stabilize things. Nice round for the Calculator, one hole to go to finish at -4. He's no spring chicken either.

I really enjoy Sobel's live blogs. Tiger just birdied the par 5 7th and is at E for the tourney. If he can play into red numbers before the end of the day he will be in excellent position for the weekend.

Watson has steadied the ship - which is great to see - and is now tied for third. Two guys who I think are going to be in the hunt on Sunday are Goosen and Ross Fisher who are both in the clubhouse at -3. Fisher made a charge on the back 9 Sunday (actually Monday) at Bethpage and has been playing great all season.

[DUKIECB]

Tiger just doubled number 10 and is at +4. He is one shot over the cut as it stands right now. If the cut line doesn't change he will have to shoot -1 the rest of the way or he will be making only the 6th early exit in his 13 year career. That is one amazing stat!

[hurleyfor3]

The cut is low 70 only (no 10-stroke rule). Plus 4 is now 74th place and the field is definitely going backwards. (Unless you're pushing 60, then you just birdied 16.) There are eight people at +3 with significant holes to play, not to mention a handful of others at +2 and +1. So I think the cut will be +4.

When was the last time Eldrick lost a ball in a major, via either water hazard, OB or lost ball?

[DUKIECB]

Looks like hurley is right that the cut will be at least +4, but Tiger is now at +6 and running out of holes fast!

[mr. synellinden]

The cut is low 70 only (no 10-stroke rule). Plus 4 is now 74th place and the field is definitely going backwards. (Unless you're pushing 60, then you just birdied 16.) There are eight people at +3 with significant holes to play, not to mention a handful of others at +2 and +1. So I think the cut will be +4.

When was the last time Eldrick lost a ball in a major, via either water hazard, OB or lost ball?

And that birdie by the 59 year old was a 75 foot putt. He is now tied for second, and would likely be in the last group tomorrow if he pars or birdies 18.

Meanwhile ... Mr. Woods bogeyed 12 also. Now is at +5, and has gone from E to +5 in about an hour, kind of reminiscent of his last four holes at Bethpage in the first round, just worse. After making a birdie at 7, he bogeyed 8, 9, and 12, and doubled 10. That's +5 in 5 holes. Brutal.

He is in serious danger of making the cut. Going in, the odds of Tom Watson playing in the final pairing on Saturday with Tiger Woods missing the cut, had to be about 10,000 to 1.