Whatever about the old hands, it certainly wasn't a day for debutants. So, there was no disgrace for Brendan McGovern and Gary Murphy, both of whom shot 84. Indeed, Murphy battled bravely for his score after the crushing set-back of a quadruple eight at the treacherous 11th.
As it happened, the Irish supporting cast performed modestly, with Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley having reasons to regret a litany of missed opportunities. Harrington, with a 75, was particularly disappointed because of his struggle on the greens.
"I putted very badly - a terrible day," he said afterwards. By his standards it was certainly unusual to have used the blade 36 times, three-putting on three occasions and managing only three singles.
Like Davis Love, he realised too late that he could easily have taken on the burn at the 379-yards where he was almost in the water with a four-iron of 270 yards. Still, a sandwedge to 10 feet produced an opening birdie. And he also birdied the next, getting up and down from a greenside trap.
From then on, however, the putter yielded a bitter harvest. "I can't remember when I had so many lip-outs," he said. "It wasn't that the stroke was bad, it was just the upsetting effect of the wind."
The round became a struggle when he bogeyed the 11th, 12th and 13th, largely because of a clumsy short game. But he finished encouragingly, hitting an 83yard pitch to three and a half feet from the 18th pin and then sinking the putt. "I reckon the same again should be good enough to make the cut," he said afterwards.
McGinley will certainly be hoping that the qualified accountant has his figures right, in view of his own, opening 76. "The out and in effect of the wind, highlighted this as the weakest of the British Open courses," he said.
"My problem was that I didn't get enough out of the front nine." Indeed he didn't, with a bogey on the third and a 20-foot birdie putt at the seventh, bringing him to the turn in level par 36. And he then carded five bogeys on the homeward journey.
The wind was at its fiercest when he set off at 7.45 a.m. and it remained fairly constant throughout the day. The only noticeable change in the weather was a touch of warmth when the sun broke through in mid-afternoon.
Given the quality of modern golf equipment, it is rare that par fours are out of reach for professionals these days. But that was the case with the 457-yard 15th, which only the longest hitters were reaching with a three wood.
Why didn't they use driver off the fairway? "Because the target is so narrow," replied McGinley. Indeed, several of the early starters also had difficulty in actually making the carry of 225 yards to the fairway from the 18th tee.
Though Darren Clarke maintained there was no appreciable abatement in the wind by the time he started the homeward journey at about 3.0 in the afternoon, it certainly seemed less severe. But the Ulsterman will have the chance of making his own judgement when he sets off at 8.0 this morning.
