Open Championship - Day 1 - "Ripe for picking"

For all the talk about Royal Lytham & St. Annes 200-some bunkers, they weren't at all a factor in the opening round of the Open Championship. On the sixth hole, shortly after ESPN coverage began at 4:30 a.m., Tiger Woods hit two-iron, five-iron to 25 feet on the toughest hole of the course and made birdie. You really can't pro-proof anything these days. With the distances pro golfers hit shots, not to mention the softer conditions which allowed far less roll, players simply played to yardages and avoided trouble. The rough was far more catastrophic, especially for Sergio Garcia and John Daly. Garcia made a mess of the sixth hole hitting from rough to rough en route to a double bogey. Daly went in the rough at the sixth and couldn't find his ball. He had to hit his third shot from the tee and wound up with a triple bogey in an otherwise solid round. If weather conditions remain this mild, this might as well be the John Deere Classic, because scores will reflect it. It's not often it will happen, but Royal Lytham & St. Annes is completely ripe for the taking. Some 90 players are at 2-over or better, and any round in the mid-60s Friday will put you right in the thick of things. Hopefully the wind starts gusting and we see true links golf. Six-under par seems more like the winning score than an opening round. But if it does start gusting, look for some monumental slides backwards.

How they fared My picks from Wednesday's column through one round Tiger Woods — 3-under, T6 Phil Mickelson — 3-over, T99 Graeme McDowell — 3 under, T6 Lee Westwood — 3-over, T99 Ian Poulter — 1-over, T54

Wild cards John Daly — 2-over, T80 David Duval — 4-over, T115 Vijay Singh — ever, T37

Mr. Anonymous Francesco Molinari — 1-under, T22