Perspiration but little Aussie inspiration at the Open

By Ian Chadband

Jason Day felt he should have been well in the red figures, Min Woo Lee ended up having to applaud his own gritty streak and Adam Scott must have found it a tough old birthday slog.

Yet at the end of a day of ‘what might have been’ for Australia’s seven-strong contingent at the 154th British Open, none were able to enjoy the feeling of having kicked off their bids in style at Royal Birkdale as they failed to break par on a day when 38 other players did.

Not that any of the Aussie raiders were out of the picture, with even Day and Cam Smith, tied outside the top-100, only eight off the pace, but this still felt like a first day when the Aussies were bathed in perspiration but not blessed by much inspiration.

Lee, in the morning when conditions were at the mildest on the sun-baked links, and both Lucas Herbert, in the afternoon, and Cameron John, with a finish after 9.30pm, came closest to breaking the par-70 barrier, all finishing on level-par, five shots behind surprise American leader, Jackson Suber.

“It was good in the way of battling … a bit of grit and bit of patience,” shrugged Lee, who made a big 16ft par save on the final hole after he’d just dropped a shot at the 17th to avoid dropping over par, which would have been an anti-climactic follow-up to last week’s runner’s-up spot at the Scottish Open.

“I didn’t have too much going great. If I hit it like that a couple years ago or last year, I would have probably made a lot more bogeys; it was good to grind it out and shoot level-par.”

LIV ace Herbert battled back from two-over at the turn to finish on evens, but his Ripper GC captain Smith now has his work cut out to make the weekend four years since he won the Claret Jug at St Andrews after his 73.

Yet Day, in action again after he’d pulled out during last month’s US Open with more back trouble, was adamant that his own 73 could have been a score in the sixties.

“I played okay, left four or five shots out there, especially with my short game and putting. Missed two relatively easy up-and-downs on the back side and then had two three-putts practically. Then I missed a really short birdie putt from like three feet — so that’s five shots right there.

“Instead of being three-over, I should be at least two-under without doing too much, without asking too much. I think overall it was pretty solid, I felt pretty good about my game. I just didn’t score well at all.”

In the late afternoon, the disappointments continued as Scott, on his 46th birthday and in his 101st consecutive major, ended up missing a short putt on the 18th to finish with a 72.