Gullane, Scotland - From a South African point of view – Charl Schwartzel hurling a club and breaking it in a dark temper, defending champion Ernie Els getting stuck in a bunker – the best that can be said about their unhappy British Open first round exploits at Muirfield on Thursday is that at least golf is over 72 holes and not just 18.
Eminent American sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella said only this week that in The Open Championship “You have to be mentally ready for anything – terrible weather, the bad side of the draw, bad bounces – anything that the week throws at you. You really don’t know what you’re going to get; you don’t get these extremes at any other Major, but you have to embrace them and say: ‘This is real golf; this is The Open Championship’.”
Schwartzel didn’t do any embracing. After making four bogeys in five holes to start the back nine, he lost his rag with an errant approach from the rough at the 15th. He threw his club into the ground with great force, snapping the shaft on his way to a double-bogey six. He did birdie the par-4 18th via a holed bunker shot, but a 75 for the day was not what he was looking for.
And on a sun-baked day, Els took three shots in a greenside pot bunker en route to a triple-bogey six at the par-16th hole. The steep face of the trap threw something at him that, because he tried to get too cute with the splash-out, even a man with his skills couldn’t handle.
That treble moved him from level par for the round – he had held it together quite well up to that point, putting with a good deal of touch – to three over and he looked a dejected man as he trudged up the fairway at the par-5 17th. He did birdie there but found the rough at the par-4 18th on his way to a closing bogey and a round of 74, three over.
It used to be Els’ putting that dogged him; on Thursday it was his usually reliable long game. The way he ignored the South African television crew waiting for an interview and stalked off the course, grim-faced, was an indication of his state of mind. One consolation is that only 18 holes have been played, and there’s 54 to go.
Thomas Aiken was an early starter on Thursday, in group three at 6.54am. This great links, which became harder, faster, drier and more slippery as the hours ticked by, was more forgiving then and the even-par 71 he signed for looked better and better as the day progressed. And Tim Clark posted a reasonably tidy 72.
Along with Els, it wasn’t a good day for several other South Africans. Richard Sterne had five bogeys in a 75, George Coetzee was out in 36 and home in 40 unhappy blows, with double-bogey sixes at 15 and 18. That all adds up to 76, and definitely not the start he was looking for.
There was, however, nothing Louis Oosthuizen could do about the ill-luck thrown at him. Dogged by neck, upper back and left hip injuries, the back pain reportedly worsened on Wednesday. He was given treatment but on Thursday after eight holes, four over par and playing in the same group as Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell, he announced that he had no option but to withdraw. In a great deal of discomfort, he was driven off the course in a buggy. A sad and early end to his week.
American Zach Johnson, meanwhile, established the clubhouse lead with a five-under-par 66, a superb effort given the tough conditions. “I’m very pleased, and I felt great on the tee-shots,” he said. “My driving is really good. A lot of the guys are using long-irons or hybrids or three-woods off the tee here to try and make sure they stay in play. But my driver is one of my best clubs; I’m happy to use it and take advantage where I can.
“I would assume there’s going to be some watering of the course if they want to keep the grass, because it’s getting baked by the sun – very, very baked.”
Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and, remarkably, the 56-year-old Mark O’Meara were together on 67 on a good day for older golfers. Tom Lehman, 54, and like fellow American O’Meara a former Open champion, posted a 68 alongside Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez – he’s 49, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker. Phil Mickelson, winner of last week’s Scottish Open, was lurking on 69 along with Argentina’s Angel Cabrera and another former Open winner in Todd Hamilton who is 47.
India’s Shiv Kapur, who only made it to Muirfield via Local Qualifying at nearby Dunbar, birdied six of the first seven holes late on Thursday to shoot 30 for the outward loop. But he double-bogeyed the 10th to lose some momentum.
The son of a stockbroker, he finished runner-up to Scotland’s Richie Ramsay in a play-off for the 2010 South African Open at Pearl Valley.
Rory McIlroy? Oh dear. His troubles continued with a disastrous 79.
The Star