The Open

With most of the Yanks stubbornly refusing to refer to it by its proper name, "The Open", as well as the lack of a certain Tiger Woods at the event there is certain to be a distinct downturn in interest from West of the Pond, something I'm sure Phil Mickelson will be desperately trying to rectify.

The interest from SA couldn't be greater with 13 qualifiers we should stand a great chance of getting in amongst the leaders. Ernie, despite his Scottish Open form looked about as comfortable as Bob Mugabe at 10 Downing Street shooting 80 means that he'll almost certainly miss the weekends play along with Darren Fichardt.Retief Goosen held the flag high in terrible conditions with a one over par 71, the Goose desperately seeking the form that made him a major winner in 2001 & 2004 at the US Open. He's currently tied for 7th and if he can keep it together in the difficult conditions could be a huge threat. Memories of '04 at the impossible Shinnecock Hills swirling around in my head, reminding us just how good he can be in difficult conditions. Early days yet but ...

The best of the rest, Trevor Immelman tied for 39th at +4 (wouldn't it be fantastic to see him win 2 majors in a year?) and the duo of Thoams Aiken and 48 year old David Frost tied for 56th at 5 over. The full scorecard available here.

The big story of the day was the return of the Great White Shark, Greg Norman the second-oldest player in the field shot a 70 to be tied for 4th after round 1 what a story it would be if the newly married, former world number 1 could pull off a stunning victory!

Robert Allenby, Rocco Mediate and Graeme McDowell lead on one under from Norman, fellow Ozzie Adam Scott and Bart Bryant who are all level par. My money is on Adam Scott, but what a story a Goosen or Norman victory would make.