as ever, the first prerequisite to low scoring on
day one of america’s national championship was
an ability to regularly locate the standard-issue,
usga-width strips of short grass at olympic club.
not that the world’s top three golfers paid much
attention to that age-old maxim. a collective 19-
over par, having found only 19 of 42 fairways and
made only three birdies between them, luke donald
(79), rory mcilroy (77) and lee westwood (73)
represented a generally taciturn trio at the end of
a day when their “worst ball” score on each hole
added up to an eye-watering 87. donald blamed a
“cold” putter, the “tough” conditions and the “
firmness of the greens” for a round that was half pars,
half bogeys. an obviously upset mcilroy—who
neglected to remove his cap when shaking hands
with his playing partners on the 18th green—
initially declined to make any comment. “too many
times i was in the wrong position,” is a concise
enough summary of what he eventually deigned
to utter. only westwood could raise a smile. “i can
laugh about it now,” he said in reference to a double
bogey-par-bogey start. “if i didn’t, i’d probably have
to cry.” —John Huggan (@johnhuggan)
05taMing;the world’s;best
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