British Open 2013: Leaderboard, live updates and results from Thursday’s first round

The British Open is the most weather-dependent and volatile major championship in golf, with playing conditions dramatically changing without much notice. This week at Muirfield, however, the forecast is mostly clear with no rain and relatively benign wind -- a far cry from the last time The Open was here in 2002, where the third round featured what many feel was the toughest weather conditions in major championship golf.

But even though there’s little-to-no rain in the forecast, the weather is still having a severe impact on the field and creating a course that’s much different depending on when a player’s tee time is scheduled. The summer months, particularly July, have been uncharacteristically dry and hot in Scotland. The players arrived at Muirfield on Sunday and Monday to a setup that was already crisp and rolling firm and fast. Many repeatedly stated that the layout is the “fairest” on the Open rota, because everything is in front of you and there are no hidden bunkers or burns lurking.

The first round of the British Open had a bit of a U.S. Open-like feel to it as difficult course conditions led to many players struggling to stay under par. Zach Johnson took advantage of easier morning conditions, shooting a 5-under 66 to take the first-round lead.

With warm weather and plenty of sunlight on Thursday, Muirfield became more difficult throughout the day as the sun baked the course, making it extremely firm. Fast greens and tricky pin positions led to several players complaining about the setup of the course after their round. Johnson said he was “shocked” by some of the pin placements while Stewart Cink tweeted the greens were the fastest he’d seen in an Open.

One of the defining characteristics of a British Open are the many pot and bowl bunkers which dot the links courses of Great Britain. Muirfield’s bunkers aren’t as extreme as some of the others in the rota, but there are still plenty of lies where advancing your ball forward is simply not an option (Harris English displayed the best example of that on Thursday). And of course, several of the best players in the world (Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker) found themselves in that predicament on Thursday. It’s a scenario which screams out for yakety sax, so we gave it the Benny Hill treatment:

• While you were sleeping: Phil hangs on, Rory blows up

The first round of the 2013 British Open is winding down and Zach Johnson is once again leading at 5-under. Shiv Kapur took over the lead late on Thursday, but he’s faltered down the stretch, dropping to 3-under.

Kapur, who is one of 18 players still on the course, made the turn in the lead at 6-under. He birdied six of his first seven holes, but does not have a birdie since. He dropped out of the lead with a double bogey at No. 10, then dropped another shot with a bogey at No. 14.

Tiger Woods had a few shaky moments at the Open on Thursday, but he was able to mitigate the damage early before making a run on the back nine to finish the first round at 2-under, good enough for getting into the clubhouse tied for ninth.

Playing in his first tournament since the U.S. Open, Woods showed no ill effects of the elbow injury that sidelined him for a month. He didn’t start well, hooking his opening tee shot into the thick rough. He was forced to take an unplayable lie and then hit his third shot into a greenside bunker. Woods, however, did an excellent job of scrambling all day and got up-and-down out of the sand to “save” bogey.

The front nine is supposed to be the scoring side at Muirfield, but Tiger Woods has taken an opposite approach on Thursday. After making the turn at 1-over, Woods has gone on a birdie spree on the back nine and is now 1-under overall.

Woods opened the second nine strong with back-to-back birdies at No. 10 and No. 11. He ran into trouble on No. 12, finding an awkward lie in a greenside bunker, but Woods has been terrific out of the sand all day and hit another excellent shot despite having a knee on the ground.

The deep pot bunkers at the British Open can sometimes make in impossible to advance the ball forward. Harris English found out the hard way when his ball landed close enough to the bunker wall that his only option was to chip out into the thick fescue rough.

You know things are going bad when that is your best option. English went on to triple bogey the hole.

Let’s talk more about the course conditions at Muirfield! As we noted earlier, Tiger Woods is on the wrong end of the draw, battling a British Open setup that features completely baked out afternoon greens with difficult pin placements. The setup even got Phil Mickelson to empathize with what the afternoon groups would face after more sun and wind would dry out Muirfield.

Tiger has handled the difficult setup admirably so far, hitting some poor shots but getting on track on the back nine. We’ve seen him try to delicately place a chip shot up on the green only to watch his ball roll back past its original spot. We’ve also seen him hit an incredible sand shot from one knee as he worked his way from over par to under par. But after that impressive three-hole strech to start the back nine, Woods slipped up again by putting his ball right off the green at No. 14:

With players griping and moaning about the tough playing conditions at Muirfield on Thursday, R&A chief executive Peter Dawson assured Ian Poulter, Phil Mickelson, and the other whiners that the grounds crew had their best interests at heart.

“Everyday we have a meeting with the greens staff at the close of play, we’ll be deciding what we’ll do this evening, what our hole locations will be for tomorrow and obviously, we’ll take the conditions that we’ve seen today into account and indeed the comments that we’ve seen today into account,” Dawson said on ESPN. “It’s very important that we have a championship course that’s not just a great test for the players but that the players also appreciate.

We know Tom Rinaldi is a receptive party when it comes to bro hugs. We saw it at Wimbledon with Andy Murray. Perhaps 19-year-old Jordan Spieth saw it too, and wanted to have his own moment with Rinaldi.

Instead, though, young Mr. Spieth was left hanging following his post-round interview with Rinaldi.

It was a rough start for Tiger Woods at the British Open, beginning with a bogey after taking a drop from a wild drive to in the first round at Muirfield. In brutally tough conditions, Woods made the turn and started his inward nine with back-to-back birdies. It appeared he might give one back on the 12th when he put his ball in a greenside pot bunker, but the world’s No. 1 made an amazing sandy save from one knee:

Woods drained the combacker putt to walk off with a world class par. He’s holding on at 1-under in the extremely tough conditions and barring a blow-up hole, he should be in fine position by the end of Thursday’s round.

Oh like you haven’t done this. Maybe not on television, and maybe not with as much flair, but still....

So he’ll be playing without that club for the rest of the day. If you’re wondering, it was a six iron. Maybe he could putt with it in a pinch or something?

Apparently Shiv Kapur didn’t get the memo that Muirfield was supposed to be more difficult in the afternoon. Despite playing in one of the final groups, Kapur birdied six of his first seven holes and currently leads at 6-under.

Kapur didn’t waste any time getting into the red with birdies on his first three holes, including at the difficult first hole. No. 1 played as the most-difficult hole on the course on Thursday, and Kapur’s birdie was one of just 11 made there in the first round. After a par on No. 4, Kapur birdied the fifth, sixth and seventh to take over the lead.

Tiger Woods is through nine holes at the 2013 British Open, and he made the turn at 1-over and six strokes off the lead. While he’s avoided dropping too far back, Woods will now play the more difficult back nine.

Woods spent most of the day at 1-over, as he bogeyed the first hole. A birdie at No. 4 got him back to even par, but he dropped back to 1-over with a bogey two holes later. Woods had a chance to move back to even after a terrific approach shot on No. 8, but his tricky downhill birdie putt missed to the left.

Not sure if Luke Donald called bank here, but....

He made par. Somewhere, Phil kicked a trash can and yelled “Where was that bounce at Winged Foot?”

The afternoon groups have begun making their way around Muirfield, and everyone is chasing Zach Johnson who leads at 5-under. Tiger Woods is struggling to keep pace and is 1-over through six holes.

Woods got off to a rough start after hooking his opening tee shot into the rough. He began the day with a bogey, but appeared to settle down afterwards. Three pars and a birdie had him back to even going to No. 6, but Woods once again ran into trouble. His approach shot landed on the green, but didn’t hold and ran down a slope and off the green. His attempt to chip back onto the green failed, and the ball rolled back to him, leaving him with an even worse lie.

Tiger Woods is familiar with getting the short end of the morning-afternoon draw at Muirfield, and it appears he’s in for a rough test on Thursday afternoon. Woods was infamously caught on the wrong side of the draw the last time The Open was at Muirfield in 2002, getting blasted on Saturday with what many say were the worst playing conditions in the history of major championship golf. Most players struggled to break 80 and Tiger’s title hopes were washed away with an 81.

On Thursday, he’s encountering what many are already calling the fastest greens they’ve ever seen for a British Open. Thanks to an uncharacteristically hot and dry summer, Muirfield’s greens are completely baked out and the pin placements have already prompted outcries from the morning group. As the day wears on, those greens are only getting more baked out by increased sunlight and wind. This is the predicament Woods is dealing with at the moment, and with his short game not in form, it could get ugly ... like on No. 6, where Woods’ chip shot ended up farther away from the hole than where he originally started:

The first half of the field has played their opening rounds of the British Open, and the course conditions at Muirfield appear to be the biggest story. Multiple players coming off the course, from the outspoken Ian Poulter to the reserved Stewart Cink, either tweeted or commented on how Muirfield’s pin placements are on, or over, the edge of fairness.

The weather in Scotland has been uncharacteristically dry and hot this summer, with temperatures averaging around 80 degrees this month and almost no rainfall hitting the East Lothian area. As a result, Muirfield is completely browned and baked, with the fairways and greens running out. The grounds crew at what most players call the “fairest” test on the Open rota spent much of this week watering down the short grass during off hours to keep things under control.

Tiger Woods is on the course at the British Open, but he found trouble early and could once again face a penalty for an illegal drop.

Woods hit a snap hook off the tee on the first hole, finding the thick rough on the left. They were able to find his ball, but he went on to declare an unplayable lie and took a drop. The legality of the drop may come into question as Alex Miceli of Golfweek said players coming off the course questioned whether Woods’ drop was legal.

Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy began their opening round at Muirfield together but their games quickly diverged, with Lefty riding his eyes-only flat-stick secret to a 2-under 69 and the two-time major champ from Northern Ireland possibly putting his way out of the picture altogether.

Mickelson had observers tipping him to get off the British Open schneid, thanks to last week’s Scottish Open victory and his effusive, pre-tourney confidence. His frustration with Thursday’s course set-up and his final hole, a three-putt bogey on the 18th, however, was evident on a day when he posted four birdies and two bogeys to close just three shots back of early leader Zach Johnson.

Zach Johnson completed his first round to lead the field of the 2013 British Open. Johnson currently sits in first place with a 5-under 66, one stroke in front of his nearest competition.

56-year-old Mark O’Meara sits in second place with 4-under through his first 11 holes. He is tied there with Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who wrapped up his first round earlier in the morning.

Rory McIlroy opened his 2013 British Open Experience with a 79 at Muirfield on Thursday. What happened? This should explain it:

While you were sleeping, the first wave of golfers at the British Open played the first round at Muirfield. Here are some of the highlights from the middle-of-the-night session in Scotland.

Zach and Dustin Johnson have almost nothing in common, except a surname. But both are on the first page of the leaderboard after the morning wave at Muirfield. Zach currently holds a one-shot lead over Rafael Cabrera-Bello, a margin that was two shots for significant stretches this morning. He’s coming off a disappointing playoff loss at the John Deere Classic, where he made bogey on the 18th hole and then lost in a playoff to 19-year-old Jordan Spieth. But the Native Iowan’s game traveled overseas, and he’s back in form at Muirfield, a setup that’s dried out and suits his shorter but straight hitting game.

More to the point, the 33-year-old, one-time major champion believed that the luck of the draw improved his own chances of hoisting his second major trophy.

“I have played enough golf with Tiger to know what to expect on Thursday and Friday,” G-Mac told reporters on Tuesday. “He’s always a great guy to play with, very complimentary. He’s the best player in the world and maybe the best player ever, so he’s the sort of guy you want to play with, especially on a week like this.”

Zach Johnson is the new leader at the 2013 British Open, matching Miguel Angel Jimenez for the low front nine of the day with an outward 31. Johnson has been one of the most consistent players in the world over the past two seasons, finishing inside the top five on almost a weekly basis. He struggled a little at the start of this season, but found his form in the past few months and entered this week off a playoff loss at the John Deere.

Johnson, a native Iowan, made a disappointing bogey on the 18th last week at TPC Deere Run and then lost in the playoff to 19-year-old Jordan Spieth. Despite that finish, his form has traveled with him overseas and he cruised through his opening nine to hold a two-shot cushion at one point. The biggest turn came at the easy par-5 fifth hole, where Zach rolled in an eagle putt to get to 3-under on the day. He backed that up with two more birdies to play holes five through seven in 4-under and get on the board as a possible challenge for the record low majors round of 63.