SANDWICH, England, July 14 (Reuters) - When the three most recent number ones in the world of tennis rock up for a tournament it is a pretty safe bet that Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic will be there at the finish and highly likely that one of them will lift the trophy.
The same goes for athletics, swimming and track cycling where world-leading performers invariably finish at least on the podium in major championships.
When it comes to golf, however, anything can happen, as illustrated by the opening round of the British Open on Thursday.
Of the three men to be ranked as world number one this year, only Germany’s Martin Kaymer was under par, three behind pacesetters Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and British amateur Tom Lewis.
Lee Westwood and current number one Luke Donald were both one-over despite having the best of the conditions as the wind dropped to leave a balmy afternoon on the south-east coast, as was tournament favourite and newly-crowned U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.
American Phil Mickelson said earlier this week probably 130 of the 156-strong field could come through to win the trophy and, with the last 14 majors having been won by 13 different players—in stark contrast to tennis where the last 26 have been shared by four men—he probably was not exaggerating.
It is safe to say nobody would have predicted that Bjorn and Lewis would set the pace but it is the nature of golf that anyone can come out of the pack to make a challenge.
Of the top 25-ranked players on duty, only six broke par on Thursday.
Of course nothing is decided after one day of golf and anyone on or around par will be reasonably content to still be in the mix.
UNLUCKY BOUNCES
The bare numbers on the scoreboard can also be somewhat misleading especially on a links course where one or two unlucky bounces can ruin good shots.
“I felt like I played a pretty solid round, other than some missed opportunities on the greens,” said Donald who was one-under after 10. “I had three or four lip-outs today, a few other opportunities that went amiss.
“It really could have been a very good round. A 71 is still solid but certainly could have been a little bit better if I’d had the putter going.”
Donald, who came into the tournament on a high after winning the Scottish Open on Sunday, said his status as number one played the most marginal of roles.
“I didn’t really think about it, to be honest,” he said. “Obviously you hear a few shouts from the crowd, ‘number one’, and ‘congrats’ and stuff like that, and you try and draw from all the good stuff that got you to number one.
“But no I haven’t really thought about it this week. It doesn’t feel that much different.”
Donald, like the man he surpassed for top spot in May, would swap the ranking in an instant for his maiden major win while Westwood struggled to make a first-round impact.
Westwood was wayward off the tee early on and recorded three bogeys in a row from the third. He then carded two birdies and two bogeys around the turn before back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 gave him a respectable finish.
Now 38, the Englishman is edging towards the age when winning majors becomes a notable feat, though his recent record is good including finishing second in last year’s British Open and U.S. Masters.
Age is certainly no issue for 26-year-old Kaymer, who reached the top of the rankings earlier this year having won the 2010 U.S. PGA Championship.
After dropping an early shot the German had a solid day with three birdies and will be delighted to resume on Friday with only a handful of names above him on the leaderboard.
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