I watched all twelve televised hours of the opening day and was surprised, awed, and shocked by various aspects of the event.
First and foremost, while the U.S. Open earlier this year on the north west coast of America seemed like an "Open" in Scotland with the links course, brown fairways and strong winds, the morning today at "The Old Course" seemed like a round in America with a very green course and very little wind.
The afternoon changed all that as St. Andrews showed it's fangs with the temperature dropping and the wind howling as it became a very different game of golf.
At the end of the day an American was leading (Dustin Johnson), with 2nd place being shared by an Englishman, a Scotsman, a South African, an Australian, and two more Americans with Spieth, my personal favorite in a 5-way tie for 3rd.
The day included demonstrations of the best of the sport as well as another very sad performance by Tiger Woods.
Maybe it's the weather but there were so many grey and black outfits that it was hard to tell who they were by just watching, but John Daly was there to remedy that in his green and red pajamas! The commentary by the ESPN broadcasters was much better than the last few years. They did have the obligatory hour or so with the rambling, off topic, Peter Aliss, but thankfully they kept that to the bare minimum... no offence meant to you fans who have been listening to his wanderings for decades but I think it's time to put him out to pasture. I would love to sit by the fire and drink scotch with him while listening to his stories, but not during play.
Tomorrow promises to be a different day. While the course was easy and inviting most of the day today, the prediction for tomorrow is for rain, and strong winds most of the day so we will surly see what those best of the best are made of.
I can't wait!
