2009 British Open Day 1

The British Open kicked off this morning and your early leader is Tom Watson(!) at -5. Tiger finished at +1 and played with Kentucky native Kenny Perry, who also finished +1 and still has a hot daughter… And John Daly, 60 pounds lighter, is -2 thru eight. Defending champ Padraig Harrington, who won with a +3 last year, is -1 thru nine. Follow the live leaderboard HERE.

To get you ready, here are three sweet vids:

1) Tiger Woods dominating the Major at the age of five.

2) My personal favorite – grip it and rip it – John Daly winning the 1995 Open.

And 3) what some call the worst collapse in golf history. Needing only a double-bogey six to win it, and having birdied the 18th the prior two rounds, Van de Velde pulled out the big dog and hit the driver off the tee… much to the chagrin of prune-nutted sissies all across the globe.

The shot went right, but was lucky to find land. Then, rather than laying up ala David Sims and hitting the green with his third, Van de Velde decided to go Tin Cup and went for the green with his second shot. It drifted right and hit the grandstands on the side of the green and bounced fifty yards backwards into knee deep rough….

On his third shot, Van de Velde’s club got tangled in the rough on his downswing, and his ball flew into the Barry Burn. He removed his shoes and socks and gingerly stepped through shin-deep water as he debated whether to try to hit his ball out of the Barry Burn, which guards the 18th green. Ultimately, he took a drop and proceeded to hit his fifth shot into the greenside bunker. Van de Velde blasted to within six feet from the hole, and made the putt for a triple-bogey seven, dropping him into a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie.

I’d be willin’ to bet more people remember the name Jean Van de Velde than whoever actually won the 1999 British Open…. (Paul Lawrie).