GMAC Moves Through Open Gears

Graeme McDowell is moving up through the gears as he heads into the weekend of The 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes looking to mount another Major challenge.

McDowell, winner of the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, shot a one under par 69 to move to four under par 136 and into a share of fourth place, six adrift of Brandt Snedeker, as he looks to keep the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland after Darren Clarke’s success last year.

“Haven't quite gotten into fifth gear,” he said. “I'm probably still in third gear, fourth gear. I’m just gearing up.”

Last month McDowell finished joint runner-up in the US Open at Olympic Club after coming within a whisker of a play-off with Webb Simpson, and McDowell is once again rising to the big occasion, unfazed by the size of the Snedeker’s lead.

“Yeah, I'm six behind Brandt Snedeker, but it's just one guy,” said McDowell. “It's not like it's bunched up in front of me. I've just got to go out and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm doing a lot of things well, but I can do them better.”

McDowell is sitting nicely in the chasing pack with only Snedeker, Adam Scott and Tiger Woods ahead of him after plotting his way round Royal Lytham & St Annes with three birdies and just the two dropped shots on a course playing exceptionally tough even in the benign conditions on the Lancashire coast.

“You just have to play the waiting game a little bit when the golf courses are this hard,” he said. “I know we've got some wind forecast on Sunday. So if you can be within four or five shots going into Sunday, that's right where you need to be, because this is going to be a tough test come the weekend. It's been very benign the last couple of days, but still, it's a tough test of golf out there.”

And having already won one Major and holed the winning putt in the Ryder Cup, McDowell knows what it takes to perform under the greatest of pressure and has a habit of raising his game as the intensity rises. His performance at Olympic Club last month further reinforced his belief.

“I control my emotions well under pressure,” he said. “I do the right things when I'm under pressure. 

“I don't always win. No one always wins. But Olympic reinforced to me that I can control myself when I'm in the mix. But still, you know, I've still got to go out there and do it this weekend.”

Now the stage is set, the cast is gathering and a fascinating two days of golf await.

“The last few groups of a Major Championship, playing with guys like Tiger Woods, that's right where you want to be”.

McIlroy Battling Out of Open Contention

Rory McIlroy refused to throw in the towel despite slipping out of contention at the halfway stage of The Open.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman was out of sorts all day at a damp and cold Royal Lytham, firing three bogeys and one double bogey against two birdies in a five-over par 75.

McIlroy had resumed in joint sixth place on three under but his round started to come apart on the short ninth which he double-bogeyed after failing to get out of a greenside bunker.

He then had three bogeys on the back nine - at the 12th, 14th and 17th - to tumble back to two-over 142 for the tournament and 12 shots behind American Brandt Snedeker.

Two minds

"It wasn't the best day out there. I was doing pretty well just to hang in there and making a double on the ninth was sort of the turning point," he said.

"I couldn't really recover from that. I wasn't committing to my tee shots and was in two minds a few times about what shots to hit. That's just something I'll need to improve on.

"I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty good on the range. I was losing a few to the left, so maybe that's why I was trying to protect that one and I missed a couple to the right early on.

"Obviously Snedeker is a little bit ahead at the minute, but I feel like if I can maybe get it back to where I was at the start of the day I'd still have a great chance.

"The course is very playable. You just need to keep out of the bunkers, which is the whole idea any way. I don't see any problem with the water in the bunkers."

McIlroy Ends Eventful Thursday on 67

Rory McIlroy kept his emotions in check after striking a spectator as he birdied two of the last three holes in an eventful three-under 67 on the first day of the Open Championship.

The 23-year-old made a steady start at Royal Lytham with six opening pars before he birdied seven and eight to turn in 32 before beginning the inward half with a bogey.

But he birdied the next two before pushing his drive at the 15th, his ball cannoning off the head of a young fan and finishing out of bounds to cost the Northern Irishman a double-bogey.

However, McIlroy drove the 16th green and two-putted for birdie, and he converted a sublime approach to five feet at the last to return to three under - three behind leader Adam Scott.

"I thought I did well to keep my composure and keep my concentration and finish the way I did. I'm very pleased with that," McIlroy said. "It's a great position heading into the second day.

"It was an eventful last four holes. Everything was going along pretty nicely standing on the 15th tee. I had a tee shot slightly right and I got an unfortunate break.

"If he could have headed it the other way at 15, it would have been in the fairway. The most important thing was that he was okay. I would have felt terrible if it had have been worse than what it was.

"But I liked how I reacted. I bogeyed 10 from the middle of the fairway with a wedge in my hand so that wasn't so good and reacting to that on 15 the way I did as well is very pleasing.

"I was very calm. My emotions were good out there and I didn't miss many fairways or greens. It was pretty much under control and I would rate my game pretty high at the moment."

Mickelson Proceeds Under Rule 28

During the first round of the 141st Open Championship, Phil Mickelson had to employ one of the most frequently used Rules in the game of golf. 

Playing the 8th hole, Mickelson found the deep bunker on the left of the fairway with his tee shot. His ball came to rest near the edge of the bunker, leaving him with a difficult shot over the steep bunker face.

Due to the angle of the shot, the ball failed to clear the long grass at the top of the bunker. After a short ball search to locate the ball, it was found buried deep in the rough. Mickelson decided to proceed under the unplayable ball Rule – Rule 28.

Under this Rule, the player has three options for relief, each incurring a penalty of one stroke. The player can choose to proceed under the stroke and distance option by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original was last played from (Rule 28a). 

In Mickelson’s case, this would have involved him dropping the ball back in the bunker and attempting the same shot again.

Alternatively, Mickelson could have dropped a ball within two club-lengths of where the ball lay but no nearer the hole (Rule 28c). For Mickelson, this option would have involved dropping the ball into further long grass, potentially leaving him with a similar difficult lie in the rough.

Instead, Mickelson decided to proceed under Rule 28b. 

This option permits the player to drop a ball behind the point where it lay, keeping that point between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far back the ball may be dropped. This decision afforded Mickelson the best outcome and allowed him to drop the ball behind the bunker and onto the fairway under penalty of one stroke.

Mickelson was not alone in utilising this Rule. 

In total, Rule 28 was used 9 times in Round 1 of the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Young Jason Sees Blue at Lytham

On Thursday afternoon a 16-year-old boy was hit on the head by an errant drive from the world's number two golfer, Rory McIlroy, at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Jason Blue, from Bristol, was taken to a first aid point just behind the 15th fairway, where he was standing when he was hit - after the Northern Irish star had come over to apologise and given him an autographed glove.

He was then moved to the main medical HQ at the course where he was seen by a doctor.

Jason was allowed to leave and sent home in a courtesy car after about 45 minutes, having been given something to eat and drink. He had a bruise on his head but no stitches and left the course without a bandage or dressing.

The incident cost McIlroy a double bogey on the 15th after his drive struck Jason, went 20 yards right and finished out of bounds by a few inches.

Jason said: "I can remember something hit me in the head and I fell over. I thought what the hell was that? What's hit me - it must be a golf ball. We couldn't see the tee because everyone down the side had umbrellas up and so we had no idea it was coming towards us even though they'd put their hands out on the tee. I closed my eyes with the shock of it as I tried to work out what had happened but I wasn't out cold and then there was people crowding around me.

"Rory came over and said 'Sorry, are you okay. I don't think this will help much but here you are' (giving him a signed glove). He was quite apologetic. I don't imagine he will be too happy with the fact I knocked it out of bounds - I'll apologise if I see him again. It's the first time I've seen Rory live in a tournament. We're camping at St Annes Cricket Club. I think we'll stay on for the rest of the week.

"My parents saw it on the TV. It took me a while to call them and tell them I was okay. They have tickets for the weekend so they are coming up tomorrow. The doctor has told me to take it easy for the next few days so we'll just go back and relax tonight. I still want Rory to do well and I'll probably go out and watch him tomorrow."

Ross Furnival, 17, was standing next to his friend at the time and feared the worst. "There was blood coming out of his head. I thought he was dead," he said.

McIlroy said: "I hit it slightly right and got an unfortunate break. It went 20 yards right off his head. He could have headed it the other way! The most important thing was that he was okay."