10:55 At The Open: Old Chaps Sergio And Padraig In A Two-Ball!

That's right, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, chairmen emeritus' of each other's fan clubs, will be teeing off at 10:55 Saturday at Muirfield.

You can revisit some of their past fun here and here.

Rory Begins Practicing For PGA During The Open

Martyn Herman with Rory McIlroy's post round assertion that he began hitting drivers after a bad start, all to start preparing for the next major.

"I decided that I was going to hit driver every hole that I could, because that's going to be a big factor the next few weeks, and I actually drove the ball pretty well, and ended up playing the last 11 holes even par.

"That was encouraging, but obviously I'm disappointed to be going home for the weekend. It's the first time I've missed a cut at the Open."

Jonathan McEvoy assesses the state of Rory's game and life, wondering what Rory will "ponder in the barren hours of an unexpectedly free weekend." Caroline is all but blamed, Andy Murray cited.

...will he talk through with his tennis star girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki? This brings us — in the absence of Freud — to an instructive comparison between two of the most exciting talents in UK sport: Andy Murray, 26, and the troubled McIlroy, 24.

Murray has in place a lifestyle geared to top-level sport: a steady girlfriend, Kim Sears, who travels with him some of the time and knows how to lend her support unobtrusively, settled management in Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment and a coach in Ivan Lendl who is as grizzled a relic of the cold, old East as the Berlin Wall.

For McIlory, the story is strikingly different. It has been estimated that he attends 70 per cent of Wozniacki’s tournaments. He was at the Italian Open for four or five days; he hot-footed to the Eastbourne Championships from the US Golf Open to see her and then on to Wimbledon.

2013 Open Championship Second Round Open Comment Thread

I see from yesterday's remarks that ESPN's telecast needed to be watched on a delay to work through the advertisements, and Martin Kaufman noted this was the first time he recalled this being an issue. But ESPN's previous Open coverage has suffered the same issue, to the point many here had to turn to the international feeds to see golf.

As I post there is almost no breeze, meaning the late/early players are getting the better end of the draw. I'm off to go see how much water was put on the course last night and to see if Tiger will be the leader by the end of round two.

Your leaderboard here.

Tee times here.

Golf Channel Icons Light Up ESPY's Red Carpet!

Haney Project season three star Michael Phelps and Golf Channel presenter Win McMurray livened up the ESPY red carpet scene Thursday night.

Prime Minister Cameron Believes All-Male Clubs "Look Much More To The Past Than The Future"

The Independents Andrew Grice reports that Prime Minister David Cameron has joined the anti-all-male membership debate.

Oddly, the focus continues to be on Muirfield and not on the similarly all-male and far more powerful Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, a key distinction that seems lost.

The Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, who is also the Equalities Minister, is boycotting the Open golf championship at Muirfield in Scotland because the club refuses to admit women members. Downing Street backed her stance, saying Mr Cameron believed that all-male clubs “look much more to the past than the future.”

But to the irritation of Cameron aides, that provoked a flurry of questions about his membership of the hell-raising Bullingdon Club while he was at Oxford University, and his decision to join the exclusive all-male White’s club,  where his late father was once chairman. His official spokesman said the Prime Minister Prime Minister resigned from White’s in 2008, two and half years after becoming Tory leader.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, described Muirfield’s policy as “old fashioned” and “anachronistic.” Andrew Lansley, the Tory Leader of the Commons, called it “entirely reprehensible.”

The story goes on to detail how Labour party members want legislation banning all-male clubs (but not all female clubs).

Meanwhile, Jane Bradley reports that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who is sitting out his first Open in decades, clarified his stance on all-male clubs because it was realized that he is a member of an all-male club. Albeit it one with a sister club.

“[The] key point he has repeatedly made regarding the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield is that it does not allow membership for women on an equal basis to that of men,” said a spokesman for the First Minister.

“If Muirfield were to establish a similar female equivalent to the Honourable Company, such as the St Rules’ and St Regulas Ladies clubs at St Andrews, this would represent a form of equality and an important step in the right direction.”

Padraig To Course Critics: Quit Your Whinging!

Brian Keogh with R&A Ambassador Padraig Harrington's defense of the dodgy Muirfield setup.

“At the end of the day, the forecast is good and the R&A got the scoring they want and the pins they want. That’s exactly what they would have looked for.

“When were those guys out? Early in the day? Hahaha. You’d want to see it now!”

Harrington did admit that it was a tough test, but it wasn’t a surprise to him.

He said: “It was tough. The greens got really quick. Really, really quick.

“I think I used my putter 37 times. And I putted well! I putted really well to use my putter 37 times. I would consider I putted awesome.

Video: Schwartzel Breaks Club On Firm & Fast Muirfield

You know the ground is hard when a club throw breaks it in two.

Then again, Charl's angle was a tad steep.

Update on 2013-07-19 09:15 by Geoff

**Nice Getty Images sequence on the Daily Mail site of Charl's club slam.

Update on 2013-07-19 20:28 by Geoff

**Martyn Herman talked to Schwartzel about the club slam.

Schwartzel's first-round show of temper was still doing the rounds online on Friday and the 28-year-old admitted it was not one of his proudest moments.

"It was just an instant thing. I didn't think what I was doing. I'm not really proud of it," he said.
"When you're playing under so much pressure, and you're expecting so much of yourself, it's a reaction that just comes. I've done it a few times in my career but never, ever broken a club that way.

"It just shows you how hard the ground is."

Rory After 79: I'm "brain dead"

Refreshingly honest even after a brutal opening round at Muirfield, Rory McIlroy still faced the press and gave an honest assessment of his game.

Phil Casey reports:

"But sometimes I feel like I'm walking around out there and I'm unconscious. I just need to try to think more. I'm trying to focus and trying to concentrate. But I can't really fathom it at the minute and it's hard to stand up here and tell you guys what's really wrong."

The Open Is Here! First Day Preview & Comment Thread

The Open at Muirfield has arrived and early Thursday is surprisingly breezy out of the west, meaning the first hole is directly into the wind. Combine that with the firmness, the narrowness, the severity of the rough, and it will be long tough day. And as I note in Golf World Daily, the driver will be seldom used all week.

That said, Miguel Angel Jimenez is 4-under through 5!

Your starting times here.

Scoring here.

For Americans, the ESPN broadcast schedule is here.

As for my viewing, I'll likely take in an oddball group for some fun, the McIlroy-Mickelson-Matsuyama 9:44 grouping and then it'll be time for afternoon tea. Cheers!