Best of the Brits at The Open

The Americans may be at the summit of the 1st round leaderboard but it was still a cracking opening day for the British contingent.

Make no mistake, the Brits are very much in early contention and heading the chasing pack after Dustin Johnson and fellow countryman Robert Streb who shares second spot with double US Open winner Retief Goosen.

Another seasoned campaigner who turned back the clock is Scot Paul Lawrie (pictured), the 1999 Open champion at Carnoustie who is currently spearheading the home charge with -6 (66) along with England’s Danny Willett.

Lawrie loves playing in front of his home fans, saying: It’s always really cool to play golf in Scotland in front of the best fans in the world. They cheer all the players, to be fair, but when you’re a Scot and you get it going out there, then obviously you hear your name a little bit more than the guys you’re playing with, for instance.

“But it’s always great to play in front of them and I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of decent wins playing in front of them, so I kind of tend to enjoy it. I tend to play a little better in front of them. I don’t feel more pressure. I feel the opposite. I kind of feel a bit more relaxed and I kind of play some nice golf.” He sure did today.

Willett revealed he now has more belief in his ability to compete at this level than ever before. “The golf game has been there for a while. Like I was saying, it’s the more you play with the top guys, the more you realise that they don’t do things a great deal better than you, if not at all.

“The more and more you’re in and around this atmosphere and in and around this kind of golf, the more you realise actually, yeah, I’m pretty equipped to do pretty well out here.”

Meanwhile, England’s promising Ashley Chesters, the European Amateur champion, displayed no fear on the biggest of stages as he threatened the frontrunners at -5 with just a few holes remaining. What a plucky effort.

Justin Rose, one of the favourites, also looked set to open his account in style and admits his Open form has been disappointing since he burst onto the scene as a bright young thing at Birkdale in 1998. He was playing alongside Sir Nick Faldo, with three Opens to his name. He won’t though be adding ot it – he was +10 with three to go!

Also in the mix at -4 are a trio of Englishmen – Luke Donald, Greg Owen and David Howell – while Scotland’s Marc Warren carried on where he left off when finishing third at last week’s Scottish Open.

“The Open at St Andrews is the ultimate, specially for a Scot. It’s extra special and I’m really relishing just being here with the memories that will last a lifetime,” he said.