The 2013 British Open kicks off this morning at the early hour of 1:32 a.m. when Oliver Fisher, Peter Senior, and Lloyd Saltman tee up to begin the oldest tournament in golf. Live stream history in the making here.
The talk of the British Open, and every tournament really, is Tiger Woods who will be teeing off at 9:45 a.m. Woods has been dogged by concerns about an injured elbow, which Woods originally downplayed, but felt the effects of in his last two tournaments.
Recently, Woods has acknowledged the severity of the injury, but also claims it is "good to go."
"I feel very good about my game," Woods said. "I feel very, very good going into major championships. I've had a pretty good year this year so far - won four times. Even though I haven't won a major championship in five years, I've been there in a bunch of them where I've had chances. I just need to keep putting myself there and eventually I'll get some."
Woods' play has improved since news of his multiple affairs rocked the golf world, but he has whiffed in majors. Woods said he is playing well, and that he doesn't see why success in a major is in his future.
"It's just a shot here and there," he said. "It's making a key up-and-down here or getting a good bounce there, capitalizing on an opportunity here and there."
Tiger's top foil through the years, Phil Mickelson, recently won the Scottish Open as a prelude to Thursday. He will tee off at 4:44 a.m. and seemed aware that his Scottish Open win portends nothing.
"Tee to green, it's a great challenge," Mickelson said. "Some holes you have to go through the air and can't go on the ground." He spoke to reporters about his strategy for coping with the tough course:
"I'm trying to figure out how to make easy pars, how to get the ball in the fairway easily, how to get it up, on or around the green easily without a lot of stressing. Without having to hit perfect shots," he said. "Because imperfect shots will be magnified by the wind. We talk about playing (the ball) on the ground. Sometimes what I've noticed here at Muirfield is you can't. Sometimes the bunkers are blocking the fronts of the greens. It's not a smart play. You actually want to try and fly it on the front to avoid some of the hazards.
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