British Open Leaderboard 2014: Live Look at Day 1 Scores and Overall Predictions

Grab your wind jackets. It's time for some links golf. 

The British Open is consistently one of the most intriguing majors of the year because the difficulty of the course hinges on the natural elements. If the weather is calm, scores will be extremely low. If Mother Nature decides not to cooperate, things are going to get extremely unpredictable. 

The last time the Open Championship came to Royal Liverpool, it was the former, as Tiger Woods cruised to a victory at 18-under. 

Let's take a look at who will thrive in this unique style of golf, no matter the weather.  

Updated Leaderboard

Predictions

Predicted Finish	Player	Odds to Win
1	Adam Scott	14-1
2	Graeme McDowell	22-1
3	Matt Kuchar	33-1

Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark

Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the second-best odds in the field, Adam Scott is a boring pick. But the 34-year-old star is flying oddly under the radar. 

"Has the world's top ranked player ever gone into a major with less buzz?" asked PGATour.com's John Swantek. "Dream scenario for the Aussie."

It's true. From Rory McIlroy being in Western Europe, where he's always the No. 1 attraction, to Tiger Woods' return to a major, to Phil Mickelson defending his Open Championship title, you have three major storylines surrounding golf's three most popular golfers.

As a result, no one's talking about Scott even though it's a near guarantee he'll be in the mix on Sunday. 

Over his last 14 majors, the Aussie has a ridiculous eight top-10 finishes, including a pair of top-threes at the last two British Opens. The Golf Channel's Jason Sobel believes he'll end that streak of always being the bridesmaid, but never the bride: 

For second, I love Graeme McDowell. 

The less publicized Northern Irishman finished just 58th at last year's Open Championship, but he's built for this tournament. He won't be out-driving a lot of people, but his ball-striking, accuracy (17th on Tour in driving accuracy) and putting (first overall in strokes gained via the putter) are far more important for links golf.

He recognizes that fact, too, via PGATour.com's Helen Ross:

"

Winning regular tournaments is hard enough, winning the majors is something different, something special. I'd love a Claret Jug. Probably that and the Green Jacket ... are neck and neck.

(But) the Claret Jug is probably the one that I feel like I have the game to win as opposed to the Masters.

"

Coming off a win at the Alstom Open de France, McDowell will keep the momentum rolling. 

As for third, it's never a bad idea to go with Mr. Consistency, Matt Kuchar. 

Kuch has fallen out of the top 25 in just three of his last 10 majors, and this season, he has 13 top 25s and nine top 10s in 17 tournaments. 

The 36-year-old is going to win the big one eventually, but for now, I'm confident in him finishing in the top five. Again.