British Open Golf 2011: Results and Reaction from the Tournament

The stage is set for the year's third major. Rory McIlroy heads into the British Open on a mission to win his second major in a row and possibly take the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Luke Donald and Lee Westwood hope their search for their first career major win will end here, but they face an uphill battle in taking home the Claret Jug.

The field is wide open. Not only is McIlroy going to be tough to beat, but guys like Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson are all looking to add to their respective trophy cases as well.

Can McIlroy live up to the hype he created during his historic run? Does Louis Oosthuizen stand a chance at repeating?

Coverage will run from July 14th to July 17th. We've got you covered with the results and reaction from the tournament every step of the way.

Darren Clarke Takes First Major as He Outperforms Mickelson and Johnson

Darren Clarke stayed steady, calm and cool throughout his final round Sunday at the British Open, and that was more than his competitors could say. Phil Mickelson mounted a serious run, but he faltered on the last six holes.

Dustin Johnson had climbed within two shots, but then he launched one out of bounds and picked up a double bogey on No. 14. The fact that these guys started dropping shots to the course was no surprise. It was another windy day at Royal St. George's. Clarke was the only golfer that seemed equipped to handle the pressure and the conditions.

And all of this left Clarke with a huge cushion. And there would be no collapse from this steady golfer. Clarke bogeyed the final two holes to close out his tournament, but that was more the product of safe play than sloppy play, and he won with a three stroke cushion.

It was an impressive and well earned victory to give Clarke his first victory in a major.

Golfer	Score
1. Darren Clarke	-5
T2. Dustin Johnson	-2
T2. Phil Mickelson	-2
4. Thomas Bjorn	-1
T5. Rickie Fowler	E
T5. Anthony Kim	E
T5. Chad Campbell	E

—Richard Langford

Wet, Wild and Windy Day Three Sees the Scores Rise

When you turn on a golf tournament and wonder what is wrong with the blurry and foggy picture on your TV, chances are, you are watching the British Open. And that is exactly what we had on Saturday at the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George's.

The third round at the British Open was a three W's day: wet, windy and wild. The wind is blowing rain drops onto the lens of the TV cameras, golfers spectators and everything else. Golfers are bringing extra clothes in their golf bags so that they can dry and keep some semblance of dryness as they make their way around the course.

At least until about the last hour of play. That is when the sun decided to poke out from behind the clouds and offer the golfers some solace. The wind kept right on blowing though. And the scores reflected it. Only three players finished their third round under par. Leader Darren Clarke was 1-under and Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler had the low marks at 2-under. 

The result is Dustin Johnson finds himself once again in the final group for a Sunday at a major. How he handles that pressure will no doubt be a big story on Sunday.

Golfer	Score
1. Darren Clarke	-5
2. Dustin Johnson	-4
T3. Rickie Fowler	-2
T3. Thomas Bjorn	-2
T5. Lucas Glover	-1
T5. Miguel Jiminez	-1

—Richard Langford

Beautiful Weather Doesn't Help Top Golfers Find Stroke at Royal St. George's

The weather was beautiful, well, beautiful for Royal St. George's on the second day of the British Open, bu that didn't seem to help out too many golfers.

After one day of golf, Thomas Bjorn led all golfers with a -5.  After two days of golf, there is a tie at the top of the leaderboard between Lucas Glover and Darren Clarke, who both have a score of -4.

The top players in the world find themselves on the outside looking in and will be heading home after just two days at the Royal St. George's.

The projected cut line is currently sitting at +3 and both Lee Westwood (+4) and Luke Donald (+6) appear to be on their way home.

The young gun group featuring Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy provided some quality golf today as well as both will head into Saturday at even par.  McIlroy is certainly still in contention as he is only four shots off the lead and the weather is expected to get a bit rough this weekend.

Anything can happen this weekend if the weather is bad, so stay tuned as the action picks up.

Here is the current leaderboard after two days:

Golfer	Score
T1. Darren Clarke	-4 (18)
T1. Lucas Glover	-4 (18)
T3. Chad Capmbell	-3 (18)
T3. Thomas Bjorn	-3 (18)
T3. Martin Kaymer	-3 (18)
T3. Miguel Angel Jimenez	-3 (15)
T7. Pablo Larrazabal	-2 (18)
T7. Charl Schwartzel	-2 (18)
T7. Davis Love III	-2 (18)
T7. Tom Lehman	-2 (18)
T7. George Coetzee	-2 (18)
T7. Tom Lehman	-2 (13)
T7. Dustin Johnson	-2 (14)

Weather Permits Plenty of Surprises at Day One of 2011 British Open, 7/14

As is often the case at Major tournaments these days, especially in the absence of Tiger Woods, the first round of the 2011 British Open left golf fans with no shortage of surprising starts and interesting story lines to follow as the weekend unfolds.

What was expected to be a day plagued by gusting winds and potential showers gave way to near-impossibly good scoring at Royal St. George's, with 50 participants finishing the day at or under par.

That includes the co-leaders, Thomas Bjorn and Tom Lewis, who both shot 65's to sit atop the leader board at five-under after the first 18 holes.

Lewis' performance was particularly noteworthy, as the 20-year-old amateur, rather than shrinking under pressure, played a near-perfect round alongside Tom Watson, the golf legend and eight-time Major champion after whom he is named.

There remain plenty of big names in play for the Claret Jug, including 2011 US Open Champion and "Chosen One" Rory McIlroy (+1), World No. 1 Luke Donald (+1), 2010 European Tour Golfer of the Year Graeme McDowell (-2), American hope Phil Mickelson (E) and one-time Tiger successor Adam Scott (-1).

The weather in Sandwich is expected to worsen day by day, with winds whipping up a bit on Friday before bringing on rain on Saturday. The shift in the conditions may very well play out in a similar shift on the leader board, as more composed veterans weather the storm on the course while the young guns of the game meet their wit's end.

Be sure to tune in to ESPN beginning at 1 AM Eastern to see how the second day of play shakes up the standings at the Open Championship.

Here is the current 2011 British Open leaderboard:

T1. Thomas Bjorn -5

T1. Tom Lewis -5

T3. Miguel Angel Jimenez -4

T3. Lucas Glover -4

T3. Webb Simpson -4

T6. Simon Dyson -2

T6. Kyle Stanley -2

T6. Pablo Larrazabal -2

T6. Darren Clarke -2

T6. Graeme McDowell -2

—Josh Martin

British Open 2011 Preview, TV Schedule

Rory McIlroy is the odds-on favorite to win the British Open. Some have speculated the Northern Irishman will be the one to break Jack Nicklaus' majors record. Some have called his swing the best ever.

A win at the British Open would add to the hype, while anything short of a win would alleviate some of the pressure on McIlroy.

The No. 1 ranking in the world is completely up for grabs. Current World No. 1 Luke Donald has done little to justify his ranking since taking over the spot. In fact, nobody has been more than an interim No. 1 since Tiger Woods vacated the spot.

We could very well see a new face on top of the golf rankings. If Lee Westwood manages to take his first major, he could very well move into the spot.

You can catch coverage on ESPN from July 14th-17th.