Open Diary

A round-up of other news from the 139th British Open

Harrington feels the Burn early on

THE low point of Pádraig Harrington’s round came early, on the very first hole, in fact. His second shot – a lob wedge which he caught fat – bounced once and finished up in the Swilcan Burn. If that weren’t bad enough, the Dubliner – who twice jumped the six-foot expanse rather than making his way to the bridge – proceeded to run up a double bogey six that left him on the back foot.

“I did all the superfluous things very well and I did the important things badly,” said Harrington in attempting to explain a poor opening round of 73 which has left him with a considerable amount of work to do to survive the cut.

And, to find a way back into contention, Harrington reckoned he needs three rounds in the 60s.

“There were a lot of good shots out there, it was more a question of I didn’t hole putts and hit a couple of bad chip shots. If you want to shoot a good score, you can’t afford to give shots away. You can’t afford to throw in a double and three bogeys as I did.”

Cink bags a few of his best tweets

AT first glance, it looks like graffiti. On closer inspection, the scrawls on Stewart Cink’s golf bag actually comprise messages sent to the defending champion on Twitter.

Cink has 1.2 million followers on his site and Nike, one of his main sponsors, came up with the marketing gimmick for them to send inspirational messages. A number were selected by the golfer to cover his bag. They include: “You can’t spell St Andrews without S-T-E-W”; “Dear Claret Jug, I want you back – signed N’Cink”; “Drive It! Attack it! Cink it!” Cink – who opened his defence with a 70 – will chose one message at the end of the week and the winning tweeter will receive a bag of the same Nike goodies handed out to each staff player at St Andrews.

Moriarty hopes it rubs off on him

ATHLONE’S Colm Moriarty – who normally plays on the Challenge Tour – is rubbing shoulders with the top players in the world this week, and is hoping playing at this new level will drive him on to greater things.

“If you come to a tournament like this and do well, it could be a mental boost. I expected to be doing better than I am on tour. I suppose your confidence takes a bit of a hit when you’re playing five or six years at the same level on the Challenge Tour. But if you do well here, it could give that boost because this is golf at the highest level.”

Moriarty, competing in his first major, opened with a 72. “I’d no expectations coming in here. If I play well, I can do well. I felt quite comfortable out there and overall I’m a little disappointed to shoot level.