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The Punter's British Open Diary - It's all about Tom on day one

The Open RSS / / 16 July 2009 /

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It's been a mixed day for Steve, with a great start from Ben Curtis and a shocking one from Anthony Kim, but there's no doubting the story of the day.

There's little doubt in my mind what the story of day one was, and it wasn't the increasingly protracted squabble between Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie. While I'm on that subject; it's not often I praise Monty but he's showing some sense now by keeping his mouth shut. It's starting to get quite painful the way it's dragging on.

No, for me the story of the day was Tom Watson. He may have been gazumped at the end of the day by Miguel Angel Jimenez, but Tom Watson's magnificent 65 this morning was totally unexpected and a real pleasure to watch. And that's from someone who's backed Tom Lehman for Top Senior!

Watson's 65 equalled his final round score at Turnberry back in '77 when he nudged out Jack Nicklaus in the 'Duel in the Sun' and was only one shot shy of equalling his lowest Open score ever. It was an incredible feat for someone approaching 60 and what a great start to this year's tournament.

Also playing this morning was Tiger Woods, and after a straight drive and a crisp approach to less than 10 feet at the first hole, his priced dropped to below [3.0], but he hit an ugly putt and basically struggled all day after that. He's now seven shots behind Jimenez and could find himself at least ten back by the time he starts his second round.

Two Englishmen, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey, both started very well. Westwood birdied his first three holes and Casey was four under through seven but both played scruffily after that and both ended the day on two under.

While their fellow countryman, Ian Poulter had a mare, shooting a five over par 75. I used to be a big fan of Poults but I'm starting to wonder whether he'll ever be a safe betting conveyance again. After larking about with Rory McIlroy last week, at the Scottish Open, this week his idea of preparation was posting pictures of himself on twitter! Not exactly the sort of focus you'd expect from someone who wants to win Majors.

Ben Curtis has fared best of my original picks, finishing his afternoon round on five under par and in a tie for second, and the really good news is that I topped up on him before he teed off. The bad news is that I topped up on all of my afternoon starters. As the mornings play came to a close I felt that the morning starters hadn't taken advantage of the benign conditions but it wasn't necessarily a smart move. With hindsight it seems the pin placements have been tricky and they hadn't done that badly.

The worst of mine today was Anthony Kim. He was seven over par for holes two and 16 and yet managed to shoot a three over total. I have no idea what happened on the second hole, where Kim made a nine! Maureen Madill, following the group for the BBC, missed what happened; apparently she was eating a chicken sandwich at the time!

I've added to the portfolio today, backing Vijay Singh at [55.0] as he reached two under through eight - he picked up just one more shot after that but he's trading about ten points shorter now, so it wasn't an awful move.

Ben Curtis is out nice and early tomorrow so I've got fingers and toes crossed for a great second round. Whatever happens, I'll post another update before round three.

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