British Open 2011 Leaderboard: The 5 Biggest Surprises from Day 1

First Round of 2011 British Open Full of Surprises and Drama 

The 2011 British Open’s First Round is almost in the books and the day has been full of great surprises and numerous letdowns.

The 140^th edition of the British Open is being played at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England.  The course is one of the most unpredictable and roughest imaginable. Former champion Greg Norman remarked that he believed the Royal Air Force used the fairways for bombing practice in World War II. Justin Rose, another pro, compared it to playing golf on the moon.

The hyperbole just shows how crazy this course can be and how spectators should come to expect the unexpected. Without further adieu, here are the five biggest surprises from the first day.

1. Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis is sharing a portion of the lead after the first round after shooting a five-under. Lewis is a 20-year-old English amateur who is looking to become the first amateur to win a Major since 1933.

Lewis has been talked about as one of the up and coming young golfers, but he made his debut on the grand stage earlier than expected. If he can keep this pace up throughout the weekend, look for Rory McIlroy to be soon forgotten.  Speaking of…

2. Rory McIlroy

McIlroy had an unremarkable first round today. He shot one-over and seemed to play without great form. He has not golfed competitively since his record breaking U.S. Open just a few short weeks ago.

He was obviously going to be rusty, but after being so hyped by the media and anointed the next savior of golf, he disappointed.

3. Dustin Johnson

Johnson had an unspectacular day overall at Royal St George, finishing with a share of 36^th place and even.  But he is lucky to even have that.

He was sitting at +4 and seemed to be on his way out of the tournament while battling illness when his luck changed. He first birdied 15, and then stepped up to the par-3 16^th hole with a pitching wedge. He rocked a low, hard drive directly at the green. The ball seemed like it was going to far past the hole, but luckily got stopped by a flagstick.

Johnson nailed a hole-in-one, and then birdied the next hole to help swing down to even on the day.

4. Thomas Bjorn

Bjorn knows the volatility of a course like Royal St George like no other. He suffered a final round meltdown in 2003, which was the Dane's best chance ever for a major.

He barely made the field this year as an alternate and is attempting to redeem himself from the performance 8 years ago. He is tied with Tom Lewis at five-under for first.

5. Ricky Barnes

Barnes just arrived at Sandwich yesterday, after deciding to make the trip from San Francisco on a whim. He was the first alternate but the field looked to be locked into place.

He got a very lucky break when Nicolas Colsaerts had a freak scooter accident. Colsaerts injured his elbow and decided to pull himself from the tournament an hour before tee time.

Barnes took full advantage of his chance to compete and finished the day at -2 and tied for 7^th.