American Cameron Young shines at St Andrews

The glorious feeling of winning a Major has deserted the 15 times Major Champion Tiger Woods at St Andrews, the ‘Home of Golf’ in Scotland.  Or at least, that is how it looks at the moment.  The 46-year old mega-star shot an opening 78 on day one of the 150th Open Championship.  He has a tall order ahead of him if he is to make the weekend cut.  Calm and relaxed, he announced his intention of carding a 66 on Friday.  Yes, even for such a great talent, after all the ups-and-downs in his life, a 6-under par is just possible.  The Old Course is where he is desperately searching for his game.  It’s where Tiger Woods became Champion Golfer of the Year in 2000, 2005 and at Royal Liverpool in 2006.  And when you watch this year’s event in Fife, you can see the fans all cheering him on.

 

Young American takes the lead on Old Course

 

As Woods struggles in Scotland, it’s fascinating to see that another young American with the name of Cameron Young is hitting the headlines on day one with an 8-under par 64 to take the lead by two strokes over an impressive-looking Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland.

 

Cameron Young is not a name that we’re so familiar with.  He is not one of the famous golfing greats that have won so many Majors over the years.  In fact, this is his first Championship and just the second time he has played at St Andrews.  The first time was when he was 13 years old.

 

Now, twelve years later, Young played a sweet game of golf on Thursday.  Indeed, he hit all 18 greens in regulation.  After 14 holes, he had carded 7 birdies and 7 pars.  At the final hole, he made his eighth birdie of the day to settle into the clubhouse with a day one lead of a brilliant 64.  If the debutant was nervous, he certainly wasn’t showing it.  Even Rory McIlroy struggled to keep up with him.

 

 

McIlroy started his opening round with a welcome birdie which he followed with a triple run of birdies at the 5th, 6th, and 7th holes.  Three more birdies came at the 12th, 14th and 18th but, alas, a bogey at the unlucky par 4, 13th cost him the lead.  Even so, a 66 was good enough for second spot.  Indeed, it is his lowest opening round since he lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool eight years ago.

 

The 300,000 expected fans due to arrive at St Andrews for the Championship over these four days were delighted with the play and truly amazed by the quality of the six amateurs in the field.

 

Twenty-one year old Englishman, Barclay Brown got off to a slow start with steady pars on the first six holes.  On the 7th and 9th, he then made birdies and the magic began.  More birdies followed at the 12th, 14th and 17th.  However, there was one blip on his card – on the par 4, 10th which cost him a bogey.  But all in all, it was a superb opening round of 4-under par 68 which earned the Englishman leading spot on the scoreboard for a few holes.

 

Robert Dinwiddie finished as the leading English player on day one after making a birdie at the 18th.  He tied with Cameron Smith (Australia) on 5-under.  A shot behind them were Lee Westwood and Barclay Brown from England on 4-under.  Other Brits were Ian Poulter, Danny Willett and John Parry who were one shot further behind.

 

So who is the leading Scottish player?

 

It was a very early start for Scottish player Paul Lawrie, who won the 1999 Open.  At 6.35 in the morning, he teed-off with Webb Simpson (USA) and Min Woo Lee (Australia).  In fact, Robert MacIntyre has taken the lead for Scotland with a two-under par round of 70.

 

We British celebrated a wonderful US Open with Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick seizing the trophy a few weeks ago.  So how is he doing at St Andrews?

 

Well, Fitzpatrick got off to a very sticky start with a bogey at the 4th hole and not a single birdie.  Three birdies on the back nine were then swept aside with two more bogeys.  The result was a level par round of 72.  But we all know Fitzpatrick well – once the birdies start to flow anything could happen on day two at St Andrews!

 

Thinking of other new Champions in golf:  How is the Scottish Open Champion from last week playing?  Well, American Xander Schauffele is doing well.  OK, he let two bogeys creep onto his card but with five birdies, then his 3-under par 69 is a respectable start for the 28-year old from San Diego.

 

Former Champion like Ernie Els ‘The Big Easy’ rolled back the years in Fife.  The 53-year old from South Africa had a share of second spot at one point but then had a late disaster which saw him drop back to 2-under.

 

There are still three rounds to go before we see who will be crowned the 150th Open Champion.  An eager swarm of 156 golfers is keen to achieve this great claim on a course which boasts fast fairways and enormous greens which are so undulating that few single putts are necessary.  Well, that is for the likes of us everyday golfers!

 

 

Wendy Hoad

Editor

 

 

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH:  Tiger Woods has a tedious opening round at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, Scotland.  CENTRE: Rory McIlroy launches his drive watched on by Collin Morikawa.