The First Round Is in the Books

Granted, one round -- especially in a major -- isn't enough to reliably predict what will happen in the next 3 rounds. Still, there are a few things we can say.

For all practical functions, the lead is -1. No offense to Michael Thompson, but it is hard to believe that he's going to preserve up that 22-putt pace. His understanding of the direction will without a doubt assist him however the route might not get less complicated over the weekend. If he can control to get 1 or 2 greater underneath over the following three rounds, he's going to be in quite desirable shape come Sunday.

I suppose in case you have been three or better after Thursday's spherical -- four strokes in the back of all however Thompson -- you are in role for the rest of the week.

Of the gamers I "marked off" my listing of likely contenders, Tiger and Kuchar have been the 2 massive surprises. Kuch became extremely constant, which I did not anticipate given his Driving Accuracy and GIR stats so far this yr. And Tiger truly looks to be farther along with his swing than I expected him to be at this factor. If it holds up, which could best be terrible news for the rest of the field!

Here are the five gamers I picked as favorites. I ought to be aware that every one five performed late in the day, whilst the course have to had been getting more difficult:

• Ernie Els: +5 -- Ernie was my biggest disappointment. He really put himself behind the 8-ball, which I didn't expect since he was playing so well coming in.
• Jason Dufner: +2 -- There are a lot of players at this score, so I'd say Jason played an average round.
• Davis Love III: +3 -- Still in it, but I thought early on that he was going to be at even or better.
• Justin Rose: -1 -- No surprise here. Justin's been on form all year, and he's overdue for a major.
• Lee Westwood: +3 -- I'm pleased that he didn't shoot himself out of it Thursday. When your threesome gets on the bogey train, it's easy to just get pulled down along with them. I'll be very interested to see how he comes back today in an early grouping with slightly more receptive greens.

Here are a few surprise players who I think we should be watching as well:

• Graeme McDowell: -1 -- If you saw his interview on Feherty, you know he said he thought he was finally back on track. I think his play Thursday, as well as his after-round interview, indicated that he'll be in the mix come Sunday. He has been here before, you know!
• Jim Furyk & Ian Poulter: E -- Both of these guys did much better than I expected, with fairly clean cards. Furyk would especially like to win this one, since he injured his wrist right after his first major and (I feel) never got a decent opportunity to build on it.
• Ryo Ishikawa, Francesco Molinari & Michael Allen: +1 -- Pleasant surprises from all 3! We've been waiting for Ryo to show up this way, Molinari already has a WGC on his resume, and Allen has been on fire on the Champions Tour.
• Rickie Fowler: +2 -- This is a good position for Rickie... and it's yet another time he's posted a lower score than Rory when they played under similar conditions. Knowing that probably helps his mindset as well.

Today's rounds should give us an idea who may be up to the challenge this weekend. Brandel Chamblee noted that, in the past 4 Opens at Olympic, two players have managed to separate themselves from the rest of the field by Sunday. With the quantity of strong players currently at the top of the leaderboard, that may be more difficult this time around.