Mersey, Mersey, Mersey...

Just some random thoughts as the afternoon wave starts their second rounds...

Ivor Impressions - By now everyone knows the iconic Ivor Robson, he of the super-human bladder that introduces the players on the first tee of the Open Championship (and all Euro Tour events). I thought that yesterday I heard one of the ESPN announcers note this would be his final Open, though I can't find any confirmation of that online.

ESPN did have this cute video of players imitating Robson:

The funniest impression of Ivor I ever heard was by Y.E. Yang a few years ago, but I've never been able to find it on YouTube.  It was Y.E. impersonating Ivor introducing Y.E., and this was before selfies became all the rage.

Phil Being Phil - He's still a bit away from showing up on a leadeboard, but he does things no one else even dreams of.  When I awoke this morning and turned on the telly, Phil was just making the turn at one under.  The wind was obviously up and so your mind starts tumbling along the lines of..."Hmm, he's got three Par-5's, maybe he can make a run...

So, of course on the first of these three three-shotters, he hits his drive "Winged Foot left" and OB.  No worries, mate, a second-ball eagle secures his par...  He shot two-under for the day and is back at even par through 36 holes.  I'm sure he's hoping the wind blows hard this afternoon...

Awful Announcing - That sound you hear is my teeth grinding at some of the nonsense coming out of the mouths of folks that oughta know better...

First, the wind is clearly up this morning at Hoylake, and the scoring is reflective of that.  But every talking head seems to have concluded that the late-early groups got the worst of the wind, since the early-late guys had calm conditions yesterday.  OK, but don't you guys think we should see what Rory and Tiger play through this afternoon before we make that call.

Next, Mike Tirico is not that terribly knowledgeable about our game, which is being more charitable than usual.  But with a view on camera of grass blowing in the wind, Mike told us we could see the wind blowing the heather.  Grrrr..... Mike, you've been doing this for way too long to not know your heather, form your gorse from your a*******e.

This is heather:

This is gorse (the beautiful yellow flowers are there only in May):

The long stuff is Marram grass, and if you want people to think this isn't your first rodeo you can call it the whin..  Otherwise, rough or long grass will do nicely.  Sheesh!

Hot Links - Is the name of the Links Magazine e-mag, and I finally got around to reading their Open preview edition earlier this morning.  Lots of good stuff, including a history lesson on Royal Liverpool which I've been remiss in not providing.  I previously noted their ten Open Championships between 1807 and 1967, and the impressive roster of

Darwin

winners.  

Bernard Darwin, grandson of that other Darwin, famously said of this week's venue, "Hoylake, blown upon by mighty winds, breeder of mighty champions."

But Hoylake's historic contributions are even more profound, including the following:

• In 1885 it hosted the world's first amateur championship, the event now known as the British Amateur.  It's hosted that event seventeen additional times in the intervening years.
• In 1921 it hosted the first international team match between the United States and Great Briton, the event now known as the Walker Cup.
• It was at Royal Liverpool where the rules of golf were codified in the late nineteenth century.

80 is the new 90 - Worried about Bryden MacPherson after his opening-round 90?  Who isn't, but fear not:

To his credit, Bryden MacPherson faced up to and answered every single question. He did so after his opening round of 90 and he did the same following the 80 he shot on Day 2. Dead last of those who completed the first 36 holes of the British Open, it would have been easy for the 23-year-old Australian to invent an injury and so avoid a second hammering from Hoylake, or simply slip away after signing his card. But he did neither. 

"Today was better," he said with a smile. "I actually hit the ball in play today. That was the problem yesterday, just getting on the golf course. I actually played pretty well today, enough to be scoring half decent. But I got away from one of the 'feels' I've been using in the last eight tournaments. Don't ask me why. And that has obviously taught me a lesson not to do that again."

If they let him stick around for the weekend, his current progress would have him shooting a 60 on Sunday.  Or not...

Did He By Chance Caddy for Woosie at Lytham - An item I inadvertently omitted from yesterday's post, includes this bit of highly-professional caddying:

Justin Rose's opening round at the British Open on Thursday got off to what he called "a comedic start" when he discovered upon arriving at Royal Liverpool G.C. that the TaylorMade SLDR 430 driver in his bag wasn't actually his.

"My driver was misplaced," Rose said with a mischievous grin after shooting an even-par 72. "It was in a car heading to Bedford, but was returned promptly."

Rose went on to explain that his caddie, Mark Fulcher, had two drivers built for friends and placed them in Rose's bag. When Fulcher gave his friends the clubs Wednesday night, he mistakenly kept one of theirs and handed over his boss' big stick.

"I noticed it wasn't my shaft," said Rose upon he pulled the driver from his bag this morning and discovering the issue.

Really?  Apparently this game isn't difficult enough for some folks....

Some Things are Just Wrong - Am I the only one missing the traditional yellow scoreboards?  Just saw Francisco Molinari on the 8th tee with an electronic scoreboard staring him in the face.  Come to think of it, maybe that's why he jacked an iron OB.

Yesterday, All My Troubles... You know the rest... but Tiger must be waxing nostalgic for yesterday's bogey-bogey start, as today he went double-bogey.  I'm thinking it must be the shoes, cause he ripped his opening drive further left than Sergio, not easy to do.  Speaking of my dark-horse pick, he seems to be alternating between three-putt bogeys and hole-out eagles.  These guys are just so consistent...

Props for Ben - Crane that is, a man whose pace of play is akin to time-lapse photography.  So, why the props?

At Wallasey in the late-day light.

Ben Crane was able to make his scheduled tee time Thursday afternoon. It just wasn't in the 143rd Open Championship.

After a frantic 24 hours of travel that enabled him to arrive on site by 1 a.m., Crane, the first alternate, waited all day at Royal Liverpool for one player to withdraw and afford him the opportunity to compete in the year's third major championship. When no one did, Crane and his caddie, Joel Stock, headed down the street to Wallasey Golf Club for a 4:48 p.m. tee time they had arranged ahead of time.

Good choice, as Wallasey has some great holes.  But stick around and hit Birkdale, Hillside, S&A, Formby and the rest as long as you're there.  Turns out Crane had screwed up previously:

Two years ago Crane was the first alternate for the championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, but didn't make the trip over due to some confusion with the alternate situation. It turned out that he would have gotten in.

Hope he enjoys his stay, and qualifies next year.  Now, about that impression of paint drying?