Scenes From The Auld Grey Toon

We may tee up our ball in front of the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse for one of the least calming tee shots in existence. In front of stretches a vast flat plain, and unless we slice the ball outrageously on to the sea beach, no harm can befall us. At the same time we had much better hit a good shot, because the Swilcan burn guards the green, and we want to carry it and get a four. It is an inglorious little stream enough: we could easily jump over it were were not afraid of looking foolish if we fell in, and yet it catches an amazing number of balls.

BERNARD DARWIN

Quite an interesting first day at the Open Championship, and an even more interesting start to Day 2.  The guys at The Loop are quick into action, as Ryan Herrington has already posted pictured of the temporary flooding that suspended play:

Yes, but as of now they're in short-sleeves and I'm seeing shadows, most irregular that last bit....and drainage is seldom an issue on a proper links.

Let me share my favorite read of the last couple of day, this New York Times profile on St. Andrews' younger sister:

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Old, old, old. It always seems to be about the old at St.

Andrews, from the university, founded in 1413, to the ruins of the 12th-century cathedral to, above all, the Old Course, the ancestral home of golf and the site this week of another British Open. 

But there is, believe it or not, a New Course, even if it is not in use this week.

It lies adjacent to the Old on the same precious stretch of Scottish seaside property known to local residents simply as the Links. The New has nostone bridge and no Valley of Sin, but it, too, has great views of the town and its steeples, and is even closer to the West Sands, site of that slow-motion beach training run that opens the Oscar-winning film “Chariots of Fire.” 

Yet there is no New Course Hotel, no New Course signature golf cart, not even, it appears, a New Course cap, visor or T-shirt at double the reasonable price (or any price).

Many of the locals and frequent visitors to St. Andrews prefer the New, and friend and loyal UL reader Mark W. has specifically recommended that the bride and I play it in August.  But this doesn't bode well for my prospects there:

“How they play is the complete opposite,” Moir said. “Because the Old Course goes anticlockwise and all the trouble is on the right, while the New goes in the other direction, so all the trouble on the New is on the left. You can slice to your heart’s content around the New and all you do is find another fairway. It’s more like a normal links golf course with the normal-sized greens and undulations.”

The most important thing to keep in mind is that it's the New, that gave the Old its name.... The Old Course was previously known simply as The Links prior to Old Tom Building the New...and while the naming scheme has been frequently copied, this is the oldest New Course in the world.

 Far more discussion about Tiger's dreary 76 than is warranted.  I predicted that he would make the cut, which is about as accurate as my call of Rickie Fowler to win the damn thing.... Joel Beall sums up Tigers day pictorially:

I love the smell of fescue in the morning...

On Golf Channel, Aaron Oberholser offered this:

“I think his best days are long behind him,” Oberholser said on Golf Channel’s “Live from St. Andrews.” Woods shot a 76 to open the British Open on Thursday. “Right now, the best thing that he can do is concern himself with potentially breaking Sam Snead’s record on the PGA Tour of all-time wins. I believe right now that Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors is very, very safe.”

Dave Shedloski had this from an unnamed player:

A fellow competitor, one who has known the ultra-competitive Woods for years, says that Woods "has lost the desire to play. Except for weeks like this, he isn't all that interested." The Tiger that burned so bright has only emotional embers in the furnace, and that is not enough to prepare properly for and compete at the level he is accustomed to - or that he clearly needs.

That bit above got the header, but I found his lede even more interesting:

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Colin Swatton, the longtime instructor and caddie for Jason Day, made a point this week to watch Tiger Woods hit balls on the practice range prior to the Open Championship. He was shaking his head at what he saw. 

Bad, huh? 

"I swear, he never missed a shot," Swatton said. "I watched him for an hour the first time, and he hit it great. He's still a top-10 iron player in the world."

You think you've seen it all, but Tiger Woods, Friggin' TIGER WOODS, can't get it from the range to the golf course.

Paul Azinger, never one to leave an open wound unsalted, adds this:

Here is his latest, in the midst of Woods’ disastrous first round of the British Open at St. Andrews on Thursday: “Golf is simple. It’s just not easy. You have to drive it, wedge it and putt it. Tiger’s doing none of those three well. Nobody needs to tell Tiger what to think. Somebody needs to remind him how to think. I think he’d be better off with a good conversation than another lesson.”

Good luck with that...things are so dire, even AARP was taking shots at our hero.  Now just to let up on the guy for a sec, Tiger can appear to be a joyless sort at times, and I was gratified to read this:

Of St Andrews, Woods added: “Obviously it’s the home of golf, we all know that. But to me it’s brilliant, how you can play it so many different ways. I’ve always wanted to play it backwards, one time before I die. I want to play from 1 to 17, 2 to 16, so forth and so on. I think that would be just a blast because I can see how certain bunkers – why would they put that there? And then if you play it backwards, you see it. It’s very apparent. That’s totally in play. That one day would be a lot of fun to be able to do.”

I know it's his job, but I am happy to see him use that other "F" word in connection to golf.  For those that really have too much time on their hands, Jeremy Glenn posted this discussion of the Bizarro-World Old Course at Golf Club Atlas.

Another interesting read is this ESPN feature on our Phil and his dance along the invisible line:

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- There comes a time in the life of every great golfer when he crosses an invisible, but inevitable, line. 

On one side of the line, you are a contender in major championships; an elite athlete and artist with a club in your hands. You're still carving your name, and legacy, in sterling trophies. Your reach, to steal a line from Robert Browning, does not yet exceed your grasp. 

On the line's other side, golf is mostly about sentiment and ceremony. Occasionally, there are flashes of what once was, thrilling reminders of the man you used to be. But the cruel truth is, it does not last, not over four full days. It's almost impossible to cross back, to find yourself on the other side of the line. You can get a day pass that lets you revisit your golfing prime. Maybe even two or three. But it's bound to expire, sometimes in the cruelest manner possible. (See: Tom Watson, 2009 at Turnberry.) Even the rare exceptions -- Jack Nicklaus' 1986 Masters at age 46; Hale Irwin in the 1990 U.S. Open at 45 -- delude us into believing it can still happen, deep into the twilight of a golfing career, when so much of history suggests otherwise.

There's more history  of late-career wins than is implied above, as the career arc only reveals itself in hindsight.  But it's an interesting perspective on our Phil....

In other stuff we've missed, the AP's Doug Ferguson perfroms a service to mankind in compiling capsule summaries of all 28 previous Opens played on the Old Course.  This is the wildest finish:

1876: In one of the most bizarre endings, Bob Martin and David Strath finished at 169. On the 17th, Strath's third shot hit a player in the group ahead that was putting out, keeping the ball from going on the road. The committee decided there would be a playoff in two days, enough time to review whether Strath should be disqualified for hitting to the hole while players were still on the green. Strath refused to take part in a playoff under such conditions, and Martin was declared the winner.

But for those of us instinctively mortified by Peter Dawson's Treatment of Open venues, this is a timely reminder that he's far from the first:

1905: This might sound familiar: To counteract the new Haskell rubber-core ball, tees were lengthened and more pot bunkers were added to the Old Course. Only a dozen scores under 80 were recorded, and James Braid had a 318, the highest Open score in 10 years, to win by five strokes over J.H. Taylor and Rowland Jones.

OK, I'll take a chill pill...

And speaking of history, this will be famed first tee announcer and the man with the largest bladder in the world Ivor Robson's last Open:

But this week, official starter Ivor Robson will call time on his own iconic career as part

of golf’s oldest Major, having become an Open Championship institution in his own right.

Robson is due to retire as the European Tour’s official starter after the 2015 season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, in November, two months after he celebrates his 75th birthday, bringing down the curtain on a lifetime in golf that has made him a treasured part of the game’s folklore.

Yet it is his close association with The Open Championship that has entered him into the wider public consciousness. He may never have lifted a Claret Jug, but Robson has, in his own way, become nearly as synonymous with The Open as the famous trophy itself; a rare constant in golf’s ever-changing landscape.

His melodic Scottish accent, immaculate green blazer and tie, and trademark expressions – “I’ll let you go now” and “On the tee” – have been part of The Open’s unique makeup since 1975, the year Tom Watson lifted the Claret Jug at the first attempt.

This video is quite amusing:

With a caveat, however... by far the funniest im[pression of Ivor I've ever heard, in fact, one of the funniest things I've ever heard in general, was Y.E. Yang's impression of Ivor introducing Y.E. Yang at a prior Open Championship. Someone needs to find that clip..

A last couple of observations about the play until now:

• First, the last numbers I saw from Round 1 had the inward nine playing +/- two shots higher than the outbound.  But that doesn't quite explain David Lingmerth going out in a scroching 29, only to come home in 40.  That front nine included seven 3's....
• The leaderboard at the end of Round 1 was extremely compressed, with a gaggle of players at 6 under.  But of those, only Zach Johnson and Danny Willet came from the afternoon wave.  You can't win it on Thursday, but we can declare them Joint Champion Golfers of the Day.
• The Tour Confidential Panel was asked to recount their best St. Andrews memories, and the Champion Raconteur of the Year is Eammon Lynch with this:

Wandering up the 18th fairway at sunset on the Sunday night before the 2005 Open, amid locals walking dogs and kids playing (the Old Course being a public park on non-tournament Sundays). I turned around to see Seve Ballesteros strolling with a friend, speaking animatedly in Spanish. He stood on the green, unnoticed by most everyone, and gave his friend a little mock fist pump, reliving that conquering matador gesture from his win there in '84. Seve had presence, even if his game had long since gone. He was a lion in winter, but a lion nonetheless.

Ah...Seve.   The greatest fist pump in golf history?

• ESPN is a lame duck for two years, before NBC/Golf Channel takes over in 2017 from Birkdale.  They're not perfect, but after experiencing the Foxstrocity I'm liking them much more....Here's their announcing team, and see if you react as I did:

Mike Tirico and analyst Paul Azinger will call the play from the main booth adjacent to the 18th fairway. Hole announcers will be Curtis Strange, Sean McDonough and Scott Van Pelt, with Tom Rinaldi conducting player interviews.

On-course reporters for the morning players will be Andy North (with Jordan Spieth group), Billy Kratzert (with Bubba Watson group) and Dottie Pepper (with Tiger Woods group). For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group. 

Later in the afternoon, Van Pelt and North will move to the booth, with Rinaldi and Dottie Pepper moving to hole announcer positions. Gene Wojciechowski will conduct player interviews. For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group.

The first reaction is of course a sigh of relief at not finding Chris Berman's name listed....No Ground Control to David Toms....Whew!

But Judy Rankin as an on-course reporter?  Look, I understand that chivalry is dead, but are there no vestigial remnants?   Judy is a wonderful presence and blazed the trail for women to cover the men's game, but she's 70 years young and should not be sent out into the Scottish gloaming....Some things are just wrong.