British Open notes

If you like notes and details, here are the first round notes from the PGA Tour staff:

The 67 sub-par first rounds were the most for an opening round at the Open Championship
since TOUR records in relation to par began being kept in 1956. The previous high was 59 in
1995 at St. Andrews. The first-round highs among the other major championships are 57 in the
1993 and 1995 PGA Championships (stroke-play began in 1958), 39 at the 1990 U.S. Open and 35 at the 1992 Masters. The last time the Open Championship was held at Royal Liverpool GC, there were 19 sub-par rounds. Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, a member of the PGA TOUR, holds the first-round lead alone at the 2006 Open Championship, one stroke ahead of Greg Owen, Anthony Wall, Miguel
Angel Jiminez, Keiichiro Fukabori and Tiger Woods. The two-time winner on the European Tour fired a 6-under 66 set a course record (course has been modified since last Open Championship in 1967) and post his career-best round in a major and just his third round in the 60s in 21 major championship rounds. Previous best was a 5-under 67 during round four of the 2005 Open Championship (T11).

England’s Greg Owen, a member of the PGA TOUR, produced a 5-under 67 on Thursday. It was his best round in a major championship in 23 rounds. Owen is making his sixth start in an Open Championship and has made two prior cuts with a career-best finish of T23 in 2001. Earlier this season, Owen finished one stroke behind Rod Pampling at the Bay Hill Invitational for his best TOUR finish.

England’s Anthony Wall, playing in his second career major, sits in a tie for second after
his 5-under 67. Wall finished T46 at Royal St. George’s in 2003, his only other start on the
PGA TOUR.

The 5-under 67 by Miguel Angel Jimenez on Thursday is his best opening round in a major
since he posted a 5-under 66 during round one of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf
Links. It’s his best round at the Open Championship since a 67 during round three in 2001 at
Royal Lytham.

Tiger Woods posted an opening-round 5-under 67 on Thursday. It was the seventh time in his last nine starts at the Open Championship that Woods has opened with a sub-par round. He’s also recorded 10 of his last 11 rounds in the Open at par or better. It’s just the second
time he has opened a major with a round in the 60s since the 2002 Open Championship (17
starts), the other was a 6-under 66 during his win in 2005 at St. Andrews.

This is the fourth time in 12 starts at the Open Championship that Tiger Woods has opened with a round in the 60s. He has finished no worse than third when doing so with two wins in 2000 (67) and 2005 (66) and a third (65) in 1998.

Sergio Garcia finished with a 4-under 68. It was his best round in a major championship
since a 2-under 68 during the second round of the 2004 U.S. Open. It’s also the first time
Garcia has opened a major with a round in the 60s since a 69 in the 2003 U.S. Open (13
starts).

Australia’s Marcus Fraser, playing in just his second career major, fired a major
career-best 4-under 68 to sit in a tie for seventh. He missed the cut at St. Andrews in
2005.

South Korea’s S.K. Ho fired his first major round in the 60s in 17 rounds with his 4-under
68 on Thursday. Ho’s previous low in a major was 70 during the first round of the 2003 Open
at Royal St. George’s.

Australia’s Mark Hensby, playing in his second Open Championship, opened with a round in the 60s (4-under 68) for the second straight year. Last year, his 5-under 67 helped him to a T15 finish.

Canada’s Mike Weir posted a 4-under 68, his best round in a major since a 68 during the
third round of the 2005 Masters. Since his win at the 2003 Masters, Weir has posted just
seven of 46 rounds in a major in the 60s. It was Weir’s first major opening-round in the 60s
since a 69 at the 2004 U.S. Open Championship where he finished T4. Weir is looking to post back-to-back top-10s in a major (T6-2006 U.S. Open) for the first time since a T4 at the
2004 U.S. Open and a T9 at the Open Championship.

Ernie Els began an Open Championship with a round of par or better for the 11th time in 16 starts and is looking to make his 15th consecutive cut in the tournament. His 4-under 68 was
his best opening-round at the Open Championship since a 6-under 66 in 2000 at St. Andrews GC when he finished T2. It’s just his third round in the 60s over his last 25 rounds in the majors dating back to 2004 PGA Championship.

Jim Furyk’s 4-under 68 was tied for the best round posted by a player from the United
States. Furyk is looking to break a streak of five consecutive missed cuts at the Open
Championship. Interestingly, he made the cut in his first five Open Championship starts,
including three top-10s. The 68 was one off Furyk’s low round in an Open, a 4-under 67
during the 1997 first round at Royal Troon.

U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman matched Furyk with a 4-under 68. The 1996 winner at Royal Lytham posted his best round at the Open since an opening-round 68 in 2000 at St. Andrews.

The 68 was Lehman’s best round in a major since a 68 during round two of the 2001 U.S .Open at Southern Hills CC. It’s just his second round in the 60s in his last 43 major rounds (69, rd 2, 2005 Open Championship).

Australia’s John Senden, who became the eighth first-time winner on the PGA TOUR at last
week’s John Deere Classic, fired a 2-under 70 during Thursday’s first round. This is his
second trip to the Open Championship, he missed the cut in 2002 at Muirfield GC after rounds of 76-70—146 (+4).

There are seven players from the PGA TOUR making their initial start in an Open
Championship. The group was led by Lucas Glover and Vaughn Taylor with even-par-72s on Thursday. The others -- J.J. Henry (73)., J.B. Holmes (74), Arron Oberholser (73), Brett Quigley (79), and Brett Wetterich (75).