Scoring conditions were excellent for the morning groups at Royal Liverpool, and thus far the weather has held out for the afternoon too. Weather in the British Open can shift quickly and dramatically and while the wind has been a challenge to read, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and the rest of the afternoon wave are yet to face a major disadvantage.
British Open leaderboard 2014: Bubba Watson, Adam Scott chasing Rory McIlroy
The afternoon wave is making its way around Royal Liverpool and everyone is still chasing Rory McIlroy.
Stuart Franklin
With scores going low early, the late groups have significant ground to make up. Rory McIlroy posted the round of the day when he carded a 6-under 66. Several players in the afternoon wave have dipped into the red, but few have made a serious run at McIlroy. Bubba Watson notched back-to-back birdies and is 2-under through six. The Masters champion struggled at the U.S. Open but is fairing better -- at least in the early going -- across the pond.
Scott, thanks to some excellent long-putting, is 3-under on his round. Scott rolled in a long birdie putt at No. 4 then followed it with an even longer eagle putt at No. 5. Scott’s game from tee-to-green is among the best in the world. If he continues to have success with the putter, he could be a very strong contender to come away with the Claret Jug. Mickelson’s British Open defense is underway, but he is yet to find a red number. He carded a par on his first six holes and remains at even. While that’s not a bad score, taking advantage of scoring conditions while they are optimal could be a key to the week.
A few players have had a very rough go of it in the early going, including Ernie Els. Els three-putted from two feet on No. 1, leading to a triple bogey.
That was only the start of the woes. He added three more bogeys in his first six holes and is 6-over through six. Here is a current look at the leaderboard:
Place | Player | Score | Thru |
1 | Rory McIlroy | -6 | F |
2 | Matteo Manassero | -5 | F |
T3 | Edoardo Molinari | -4 | F |
T3 | Brooks Koepka | -4 | F |
T3 | Francesco Molinari | -4 | F |
T3 | Jim Furyk | -4 | F |
T3 | Sergio Garcia | -4 | F |
T8 | Robert Karlsson | -3 | F |
T8 | Marc Leishman | -3 | F |
T8 | Koumei Oda | -3 | F |
T8 | Rickie Fowler | -3 | F |
T8 | Tiger Woods | -3 | F |
T8 | Hideki Matsuyama | -3 | F |
T8 | Jimmy Walker | -3 | F |
T8 | Yoshinobu Tsukada | -3 | 17 |
T8 | Boo Weekley | -3 | 10 |
T8 | Adam Scott | -3 | 5 |
T18 | Freddie Jacobson | -2 | F |
T18 | Ashley Chesters | -2 | F |
T18 | Ryan Moore | -2 | F |
T18 | Mikko Ilonen | -2 | F |
T18 | Thomas Bjorn | -2 | F |
T18 | Louis Oosthuizen | -2 | F |
T18 | Stephen Gallacher | -2 | F |
T18 | David Hearn | -2 | F |
T18 | Kristoffer Broberg | -2 | F |
T18 | Hiroshi Iwata | -2 | 16 |
T18 | Brendon Todd | -2 | 11 |
T18 | Graham Delaet | -2 | 10 |
T18 | Bubba Watson | -2 | 6 |
T18 | Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | -2 | 5 |
T32 | Dawie Van Der Walt | -1 | F |
T32 | Matt Jones | -1 | F |
T32 | Erik Compton | -1 | F |
T32 | Ben Martin | -1 | F |
T32 | Branden Grace | -1 | F |
T31 | Stewart Cink | -1 | F |
T31 | Charl Schwartzel | -1 | F |
T32 | Jordan Spieth | -1 | F |
T32 | Dustin Johnson | -1 | F |
T31 | Hunter Mahan | -1 | F |
T32 | Marc Warren | -1 | F |
T32 | George Coetzee | -1 | 13 |
T31 | Kevin Streelman | -1 | 12 |
T31 | J.B. Holmes | -1 | 9 |
T18 | Zach Johnson | -2 | 8 |
T31 | Jason Dufner | -1 | 5 |
T32 | Lee Westwood | -1 | 4 |
T49 | David Howell | E | F |
T49 | Bernd Wiesberger | E | F |
T49 | Hyung-Sung Kim | E | F |
T49 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | E | F |
T49 | Darren Clarke | E | F |
T49 | Harris English | E | F |
T50 | Henrik Stenson | E | F |
T50 | K.J. Choi | E | F |
T49 | Rhein Gibson | E | 17 |
T49 | Brian Harman | E | 17 |
T49 | Shawn Stefani | E | 15 |
T49 | Charley Hoffman | E | 13 |
T49 | Brandt Snedeker | E | 10 |
T49 | Chris Kirk | E | 9 |
T49 | Miguel Jimenez | E | 9 |
T50 | Phil Mickelson | E | 6 |
T49 | Russell Henley | E | 5 |
T49 | Justin Rose | E | 4 |
T49 | Tommy Fleetwood | E | 2 |
T49 | Oliver Fisher | E | 1 |
T69 | David Duval | 1 | F |
T69 | Tom Watson | 1 | F |
T69 | Luke Donald | 1 | F |
T69 | Ian Poulter | 1 | F |
T69 | Matt Kuchar | 1 | F |
T69 | Oscar Floren | 1 | 17 |
T69 | Roberto Castro | 1 | 15 |
T69 | Pablo Larrazabal | 1 | 13 |
T69 | Michael Hoey | 1 | 13 |
T69 | Gary Woodland | 1 | 11 |
T69 | Kevin Stadler | 1 | 11 |
T69 | Jonas Blixt | 1 | 9 |
T69 | Thongchai Jaidee | 1 | 9 |
T69 | Bill Haas | 1 | 9 |
T69 | Jason Day | 1 | 7 |
T69 | Jamie Donaldson | 1 | 6 |
T69 | Webb Simpson | 1 | 7 |
T69 | Yusaku Miyazato | 1 | 7 |
T69 | Keegan Bradley | 1 | 4 |
T69 | Ryo Ishikawa | 1 | 4 |
T69 | Kevin Na | 1 | 3 |
T69 | Joost Luiten | 1 | 3 |
T69 | John Senden | 1 | 3 |
T69 | Ross Fisher | 1 | 2 |
T69 | Paul Dunne | 1 | 2 |
T69 | Mark Wiebe | 1 | 2 |
T69 | Shane Lowry | 1 | 1 |
T69 | Chesson Hadley | 1 | 1 |
T97 | Cameron Tringale | 2 | F |
T97 | Justin Leonard | 2 | F |
T97 | Ben Curtis | 2 | F |
T97 | Paul Casey | 2 | F |
T97 | Padraig Harrington | 2 | F |
T97 | Graeme McDowell | 2 | F |
T97 | Victor Dubuisson | 2 | F |
T97 | Ryan Palmer | 2 | F |
T97 | Jamie McLeary | 2 | 16 |
T97 | Cheng Tsung Pan | 2 | 11 |
T97 | A-Shun Wu | 2 | 10 |
T97 | Martin Kaymer | 2 | 7 |
T113 | John Daly | 3 | 3 |
T97 | Rafael Cabrera Bello | 2 | 2 |
T111 | Chris Wood | 3 | F |
T111 | Anirban Lahiri | 3 | F |
T111 | Thorbjorn Olesen | 3 | F |
T111 | Matt Every | 3 | F |
T111 | Brett Rumford | 3 | F |
T111 | Hyung-Tae Kim | 3 | F |
T111 | Victor Riu | 3 | 15 |
T113 | Nick Watney | 3 | 15 |
T113 | D.A. Points | 3 | 15 |
T111 | Brendan Steele | 3 | 14 |
T111 | Y.E. Yang | 3 | 15 |
T111 | Danny Willett | 3 | 10 |
T111 | Billy Horschel | 3 | 5 |
T124 | Angel Cabrera | 4 | F |
T124 | Nick Faldo | 4 | F |
T127 | Tomohiro Kondo | 4 | F |
T124 | Juvic Pagunsan | 4 | F |
T124 | Paul McKechnie | 4 | F |
T124 | Dong-Kyu Jang | 4 | 15 |
T124 | Brendon de Jonge | 4 | 11 |
T127 | Sandy Lyle | 4 | 11 |
T134 | Todd Hamilton | 5 | F |
T132 | Peter Uihlein | 5 | F |
T132 | Matthew Southgate | 5 | 16 |
T132 | Tyrrell Hatton | 5 | 16 |
T132 | Scott Stallings | 5 | 13 |
T137 | Masanori Kobayashi | 6 | F |
T137 | Patrick Reed | 6 | F |
T137 | John Singleton | 6 | F |
T137 | Chris Hanson | 6 | 17 |
T137 | Ernie Els | 6 | 6 |
T142 | Paul Lawrie | 7 | F |
T142 | Bradley Neil | 7 | F |
144 | Bryden Macpherson | 15 | 13 |
T145 | George McNeill | E | 10:33 AM |
T145 | Chris Stroud | E | 10:33 AM |
T145 | Richard Sterne | E | 10:33 AM |
T145 | Jin Jeong | E | 10:44 AM |
T145 | Gregory Bourdy | E | 10:44 AM |
T145 | Matthew Baldwin | E | 10:44 AM |
T145 | Rhys Enoch | E | 10:55 AM |
T145 | Billy Hurley III | E | 10:55 AM |
T145 | Justin Walters | E | 10:55 AM |
T145 | Scott Jamieson | E | 11:06 AM |
T145 | Chris Rodgers | E | 11:06 AM |
T145 | Byeong-Hun An | E | 11:06 AM |
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