British Open Leaderboard 2013: Justin Rose and Stars Who Need Big 2nd Rounds

The 2013 U.S. Open champion did not have the best opening round on Thursday.

Justin Rose made par on the first five holes on the front nine but then started to struggle. He bogeyed the sixth hole and bogeyed the ninth shortly after. He played even par for the first four holes on the back nine but was a disaster on the 14th and 15th.

Rose bogeyed the 14th and then double bogeyed the 15th to sit at five over with three holes to play. He did end his day on a high note, birdieing the 17th hole, but he’s still very far back from the top of the leaderboard. The greens have been tough, but the major champion can’t afford to need 2.8 puts per green in regulation.

It shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise that Rose didn’t play very well on the first day of the Open Championship. As ESPN Stats & Info notes, he has made the top 10 at the tournament once since 1998, when he was an amateur:

Rose wasn’t the only big name at Muirfield to struggle on Thursday, though. Here’s a look at a few other stars who will need to have strong second rounds in order to get the chance to play the weekend at the Open Championship. If they continue to play poorly, they might not make the cut.

The Open Championship Complete Leaderboard

Ernie Els

Ernie Els wasn’t welcomed properly to the first hole at Muirfield. Els bogeyed the par four, and his day didn’t get much better. He would finish the front nine at one over, bogeying the eighth and birdieing the ninth for a 37. Els got back to even par after the 11th but couldn’t stay under par the rest of the round.

The defending champion got into trouble on the 16th hole and ended up triple bogeying. He bounced back on the following hole, birdieing the par-5 17th, but he ended his opening round at Muirfield with a bogey. In order for Els to play the weekend, he’ll need to be more accurate off the tee.

Throughout the round, Els only hit 42.9 percent of the fairways. That’s not going to cut it, especially when the rough is extremely thick. If he can be better at getting the ball on the fairway from the tee box on Friday, he will put himself in a good position to get under par for the tournament.

Tom Watson

It seems unlikely Tom Watson is going to have the opportunity to win the Open Championship for the sixth time in his career. The five-time champion just didn’t have a lot of luck on Thursday, as he finished at four over. He was bound for a poor day right from the start.

Watson was one over after just one hole. He bogeyed three holes and birdied two from the fourth hole to the eighth hole. By the time he finished the front nine, he was already two over for the day. He bogeyed the 10th but got back to two over with a birdie on the 11th. He would bogey the 16th and 17th to finish the round at four over.

In order to make the cut, Watson is going to need to get off to a good start and be consistent. He can’t afford to have a stretch like he did on Thursday when he went from bogey to birdie to bogey for five straight holes. Watson must at least play even par for the first few holes in order to get his confidence to where it needs to be.

Keegan Bradley

Keegan Bradley should’ve asked the officials if he could replay the entire back nine. Seriously, without the last nine holes at Muirfield, Bradley would only be one over for the round and in good shape heading into Friday. Instead, he’s at four over and might not end up teeing off on Saturday or Sunday.

The first hole seems to be the hardest, as Bradley is another golfer who struggled to make par. He didn’t even bogey; he double bogeyed. He did get back on track with a birdie on the fifth, though. Then, the back nine came. Bradley bogeyed five of the holes. If it weren’t for an eagle on the 17th, he’d be in even worse shape.

Bradley just wasn’t effective with any of his clubs on Thursday. He only hit 35.7 percent of the fairways and finished his round with a 44.4 greens in regulation percentage. He also needed 3.8 putts per green in regulation. Basically, nothing went right. He needs to clear his head and hope for a better day on Friday.

*All statistics in this article were obtained via ESPN unless otherwise noted.