Jug Might Be Up for U.S. Golfers

TROON, Scotland —  When you win seven of the last nine British Opens, which is what players from the United States have done, it’s probably a real concern that the Claret Jug is destined for permanent display in, say, Milwaukee, transported in the back seat of a Chevy and stuffed full of cheeseburgers or possibly bratwurst.

And just when you might feel you’ve darned near lost that trophy for good, you get something like Thursday’s opening round at Royal Troon, where for at least one day, there was a decided continental shift.

In fact, if it is possible that a continent can have a good day on the golf course, then this was it, when eight of the top 12 scorecards were signed by players from Europe.

Paul Casey of England and Thomas Levet of France share the first-round lead at the 133rd British Open, enjoying a nearly windless day at Royal Troon, which allowed them matching five-under-par rounds of 66.

Michael Campbell of New Zealand had only one bogey on his way to a 67, one shot ahead of a double-decker bus of players at 68, a group of nine that includes British Amateur champion Stuart Wilson, Vijay Singh, Carl Pettersson and Marten Olander of Sweden and Alistair Forsyth and Gary Evans of England.

Evans produced one of the day’s brightest moments, a double eagle on the par-five fourth, which he holed from 227 yards with a five-iron.

Levet didn’t do anything nearly as dramatic, but a five-birdie, no-bogey day certainly lifted his spirits. Levet, who lost to Ernie Els in a playoff in the 2002 British Open at Muirfield, said it wasn’t only a great start, but also a good way to formulate a plan to keep it up.

“What I tell myself is just keep smiling,” he said.

Meanwhile, it’s up to the U.S. players to find a reason to grin. Right now, you’ve got to dig deep to reach one, in a tie for 13th, which is where you’ll discover Kenny Perry, Rich Beem, Skip Kendall, Scott Verplank and Steve Lowery, who all shot 69.

Tiger Woods is one shot behind them, but that has to be considered a good sign for him. His one-under 70 was his first opening round under par in a major since the 2002 PGA Championship, when he finished second to Beem.

Woods said the weather helped everybody, even if it wasn’t supposed to be such a nice day.

“Today was supposed to be blowing, and it ended up being probably one of the best days you’ll ever see in a British Open,” he said.

It looked even better to Woods the moment he saved par at the 18th when he drilled a six-footer. He said later that he’s content with his position, at least for now.

“It’s a positive start,” he said. “And hopefully I can continue on that and play well the rest of the tournament.”

The sentiment is a familiar one, especially for the U.S. players who have grown accustomed to dominating the majors.

Since the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, U.S. players have won 15 of the last 19 majors. Not only that, players from the U.S. have won the last five times the British Open has been held at Troon.

The last player from Europe to win a major was Paul Lawrie of Scotland, when he came from 10 shots behind on the last day at Carnoustie.

If Troon was tame for a day, and 39 players shot under par, it still had its moments of unruliness. Ben Curtis, the defending champion, shot four-over 75 and is in danger of missing the cut. Sergio Garcia had the same score as Curtis, and Padraig Harrington shot 76.

Then there was Els, who experienced both sides of Troon’s personality. He aced the 123-yard eighth hole, the Postage Stamp, and was four under by the time he stepped up to the tee at the par-three, 222-yard 17th and chose a five-iron.

It was instant trouble. Els pulled his shot left into a bunker, didn’t get it out on his first try, flopped it onto the green with his third shot and two-putted for double bogey.

“I had a pretty nice round going there,” he said. “I had a bit of a downhill lie in the bunker, but it wasn’t the most difficult shot I’ve ever had in my life and I just messed it up. From really nowhere, I made double bogey, so that’s quite disappointing.

“But from such a highlight on eight to such a lowlight on 17, it’s amazing.”

Casey was born in Cheltenham, England, and at Arizona State broke Woods’ Pacific 10 Conference scoring record. He turned pro in 2000 and has played mainly on the European Tour, where he is 13th on the Order of Merit.

His opening round included seven birdies, two bogeys and a new putting routine in which he looks at the hole during his practice strokes to feel the distance better. It must have worked, because Casey made a 30-footer to birdie the 11th, another 30-footer to birdie the 16th and a 16-footer to close with a birdie at the 18th.

After his round, Casey referred to “we” in several comments about his play, a group he said included his coach, Peter Kostis, and his girlfriend. He explained why.

“I think it maybe disperses the pressure,” he said. “I can blame somebody else when things go wrong.”

As far as blame goes, John Daly managed to pass some around, even after his round of one-under 70. He accomplished it all despite a bad back he said he got from his first-class seat on his flight to Glasgow.

“I paid 4,000 bucks to come over here.... I felt like I was sitting in coach. It was very uncomfortable.”

With luck, Daly will get over it, while Royal Troon takes a breath and shuffles. No one, not even the Europeans, should get too comfortable. Chances are, the course has something else up its sleeve.

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British Open

First-round scores on the par-71 Royal Troon course in Scotland:

*--* LEADERS Paul Casey...34-32--66 Thomas Levet...32-34--66 Michael Campbell...32-35--67 Gary Evans...34-34--68 K. J. Choi...33-35--68 Carl Pettersson...33-35--68 Mathew Goggin...34-34--68 Kenneth Ferrie...33-35--68 Stuart Wilson...32-36--68 Vijay Singh...33-35--68 Marten Olander...33-35--68 Alastair Forsyth...32-36--68 OTHERS Ernie Els...33-36--69 Colin Montgomerie...33-36--69 Retief Goosen...34-35--69 Tiger Woods...34-36--70 Phil Mickelson...36-37--73 Ben Curtis...37-38--75

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