Phil Mickelson walks up to the green during the first round of the 2013 The Open Championship at Muirfield Golf Club. (Photo: Paul Cunningham USA TODAY Sports)
GULLANE, Scotland - Only at the British Open could perfect weather - in collusion with a few thorny pin placements - wreak havoc on the field.
On another Scotland scorcher off the Firth of Forth, where the umbrellas fended off sunshine instead of the inclement weather Open players typically battle, tempers rose as the unseasonably dry Scottish weather continued to bake Muirfield Golf Club, leaving a few players plenty hot under the collar after Thursday's first round of the 142nd British Open.
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With wind only a minor impediment - again, unusual for these parts - Zach Johnson shot 5-under-par 65 to grab a one-shot lead on Rafael Cabrera-Bello and 1998 Open winner Mark O'Meara, who is doing his best work these days on the Champions Tour. As is Tom Lehman, the 1996 Open winner, who is in a group with Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker at 68. World No. 1 Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson each shot 69, and reigning Masters champion Adam Scott had a 71.
LEADERBOARD: 142nd British Open
On the other end of the scoreboard, U.S. Open champ Justin Rose fired 75, Rory McIlroy a 79, Luke Donald an 80.
It was the day's pin placements, more daunting for the afternoon tee times on the crispy course, that drew much of the attention. McIlroy putted a ball into a pot bunker behind the 15th green. Woods putted a ball off the 14th green.
"And it really wasn't that bad a putt," Woods said. "Anything that goes 4 feet by, it's gone. It was tough."
The setup drew the ire of several players, including Ian Poulter and Mickelson.
Poulter shot 72 and said some of the greens reminded him of a miniature golf course. Taking to twitter, he wrote, "Unfortunately the guys in the afternoon will struggle w/a few pin positions. 8th is a joke, 18th needs windmill+clown face."
Mickelson, the winner last week in the Scottish Open, suggested tournament officials should put their egos in an ice box.
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"I think the R&A was really worried about the scores going too low, and there are some really funky pin placements," said Mickelson, who ended his day with a three-putt from 12 feet. " ... You got (to) let go of your ego sometimes and just set the course up the way the best players can win.
"... I got very lucky to play early because as the day wore on and we got to the back nine, about a third of every green started to die and became brown. And the pins were very edgy, on the slopes and whatnot."
R&A chief executive Peter Dawson made no apologies, telling the BBC, "We're very happy with the scoring. It's about what we would expect," Dawson said.
The course has been hardened to yellow and brown after seeing rain just two of the past 20 days - one announcer welcomed fans to Scotland's first summer in 10 years. And Muirfield may only get firmer and faster: The forecast predicts liittle chance of rain through the weekend. The R&A, which runs the event, watered greens two of the preceding four days. Officials went late into Thursday night deciding how to set up the course for the second round.
"We have the conditions here we really like to have - hard, fast, running conditions - and we've set up the course to test the players' course management strategy as much as anything," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson told the BBC. "We're obviously very conscious of player comment, and we'll take that into account when we decide how the greens-keeping staff overnight is going to set up the course (Friday)."
The course did play harder in the afternoon. While 12 players in the first 26 groups broke par, only eight players in the last 26 groups did so. The scoring average of 74.63 was almost four shots above par 71, and 14 of the 18 holes played over par.
"It's playable, but indeed very testing. ... It's far from unplayable, but we do hear player comment and we're not so insular as to ignore it."
Graeme McDowell, who had an afternoon tee time and opened with a 75, hopes officials don't use too much water before Friday's second round.
Faster and faster?
"I think most of the afternoon starters will be hoping they don't put too much water on these greens overnight. So that they can keep it balanced and let the afternoon players (Friday) get what we experienced this afternoon," McDowell said. "I won't say they were unfair. But they were very glassy. You go out and look at some of those holes later on this evening and literally, you know, a few times you're scared to lean on your putter, to re-mark your ball because you're scared it might skid out from underneath you. It's literally like an ice rink around some of the holes."
Some players have said they can't recall conditions like this in Scotland - not only hot weather on so many days but conditions so firm that 4-irons are going 290 yards and 2-irons reach 310. Some players have hit 6-irons 250 yards - but predicting the roll on the fairways is confounding as well.
"I wouldn't quite say Florida, but I'm sure there are a lot of red people out there," Woods joked about the sunburn spectators were getting.
Dustin Johnson said he's never seen so much sun in Scotland.
"And the golf course is really firm, and it's just getting firmer. And it's getting faster," he said. "But I like hitting 3-iron 300 yards. I don't have to hit driver if I choose not to. But the greens are a lot faster than they were early in the week. With the sunshine and the wind they're just going to get quicker."
That's what the players fear. The greens were already plenty quick enough.
"I'm trying to lag the one on 17 and it still goes 6 or 7 feet by. No. 8 is probably the worst one that you'll see if you watch it on TV. It won't stop until it collects in a little level area about 6, 8 feet away," Mickelson said. " ... The greens are dying, and the holes are on edges of slopes that the ball just simply won't stay. You drop it, and it won't stay by the hole."
Zach Johnson said the weather has brought a different dynamic into how players are reading the greens.
"A couple of the pins were pretty tough. But you know that coming into it. It's not like they were on a crevice or on a tier. But I think what you've got to pay attention to, frankly, is color," he said. "If it's green, it's a little slower. If it's brown, it's going to continue to roll. And there's probably more of an element of feel involved.
"Granted it's easy for me to stand up here because I shot the lowest score so far, and I enjoyed the course. But there are some dicey pins. And it's not going to get any easier as the day goes on. ...It's playable, but you've got to really, really pay attention around the pins, around the hole."
Phil Mickelson was critical of the setup.(Photo: Peter Morrison, AP)
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