• Open Championship, What They Said, Round One

What They Said

Jerry Kelly hits the opening tee shot © PA Photos

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Favourite Rory McIlroy opened his challenge with a 71 and feels he is well placed going into round two. "It was a tough day. I had to stay patient, as I knew I was not going to get that many chances for birdie. I holed a couple of nice par putts and a birdie coming in, so I'm happy with the way I started. It is funny when you don't play a tournament for a few weeks you are keen to get out there and there is a lot of support for me out there. "I feel the harder it is, the better it is for me. I did not feel like I played very good out there, but as long as I can keep it around level par I think that is a good total to stick around."

Thomas Bjorn, who came so close to victory in the Open in 2003, was the first to lay down a marker with an excellent 65. It was only on Monday that his place in the field was confirmed and his form came as something of a surprise to the Dale: "It is a good start, there is a lot involved in coming back here after what happened eight years ago. I just thought I would go out and try and knuckle down and not think about too many things. I pretty much succeeded in that. I've not had great form of late, so maybe it was a little bit of a surprise to me, but I did play well and it was solid.

"You don't prepare like you normally do if you get in a long way in advance, but you want to play in these competitions and when I got in on Monday it gave me a bit of a boost. I did not feel too good when I arrived on Monday knowing I was first reserve, but it was then back to preparations and it might have done be a bit of good to get a bit of distance from it."

Simon Dyson played alongside Bjorn and shot an excellent 68: "It was good, I played nicely. I drove well and my iron play was good, but the best part of my game was my putting. The pace of my putting was good, which is key round here as you will have some long putts. It is windy out there, but it is in a slightly different direction to yesterday and makes some of the holes were playable. There were some holes yesterday that were nasty."

Luke Donald did not feel like he did much wrong © Getty Images

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Darren Clarke is level with Dyson on two-under, and he was grateful for a late draw that saw most of the bad weather disappear by the time he arrived on the course: "We got a huge break with the weather today, it was a little breezy to start off with but overall I'm pleased. I've had bad draws at the Open, it makes a massive difference."

Graeme McDowell is another on two-under, but only after he recovered from a nightmare start that saw him double bogey his first hole. "I got off to a horror start. I was feeling good, feeling natural, but I made a bad swing off the first tee and caught a bad lie off the back of the green. You never want double bogey on your first hole, I had three days' good preparation, yet after my first swing I'm thinking, 'What just happened?'"

Sergio Garcia, who had a sloppy end to his round of 70, said: "I guess [I'm] a little bit disappointed with the finish. Just didn't really play that great coming in, but overall I think it was pretty good. A couple of swings with the driver kind of got in my head and I started worrying a bit too much. I guess we'll work on it this afternoon."

Luke Donald opened with a solid round of 71. He said: "The wind at times was very gusty, but I felt like I played a pretty solid round, other than some missed opportunities on the greens. I had three or four lip-outs today, a few other opportunities that went amiss. It really could have been a very good round. 71 is still solid, but certainly could have been a little bit better if I'd have had the putter going.

"There was a lot more applause onto tee [for me], and I think people are appreciating the good golf that I've been playing lately. It's recognition that I've been playing well. You try and use the energy of the crowd to your advantage."

Dustin Johnson had a hole-in-one on the 16th, but was hampered by illness. He said: "I'm not very excited at all. I'm going to go home and sleep. I'm not feeling all that well, so a little bit under the weather. My glands are swollen."

Jerry Kelly, who made a 11 on the first back in 2003, hit the opening tee shot of the tournament on the way to a 74: "I thought that was quite an honour [to be off first]. I enjoyed that. I recognise the irony in it after what happened last time.

"The rough at No. 1 [in 2003] was up to the waist. Now it's just up to the knees, but it's the coverage underneath that was so heavy before. It's much more playable this time."

Danny Willett was also in the first group, and finished with a one-under 69: "I missed a couple of chances but on the whole played really nice. A couple more could have dropped but bottom line it was a really good game of golf.

"Getting up at 4.00 is never nice, but once you're up and actually out here, your adrenaline is pumping and you want to get on with it, really. I'm finished at 11.30 and get to have a bit of lunch and do a bit of practice and relax and watch the boys on TV. Four scores in the 60s would be all right. But winds are kind of tricky. We're just going to keep trying to play the game plan."

Grey skies hover over the Kent coast © PA Photos

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Mark Calcavecchia won the 1989 Open and opened with a 69: "I've got nine years left [of Open exemption] and I promise you, unless I'm lame or something, I'll be here every year. I'm not in any of the other majors any more and I miss playing in them. So when I get in this one until I'm 60, I'll appreciate it probably more and more every year until I'm 60. I do love this tournament."

Stewart Cink won in 2009 and started off with a level-par round of 70. He said: "I can't complain. Overall I think anything around par is okay. Par or better is going to be a pretty decent score throughout this whole week. It's severe, it's a tough course out there. The greens are not that small but you're hitting to little areas on the green where there's danger so you've got to be very exact."

Miguel Angel Jimenez followed Bjorn in with a 66. When asked about his plans for the rest of the day, he said: "I'll probably hit some balls, some putts, go to the merchandise tent with my sons to find some shirts with the logo. I want to buy also a shirt for me. I am a fan of the Open too, you know, apart from a player.

"I'm going to have a glass of Rioja. It doesn't matter what the scores are going to be tomorrow, I'm going to have a glass of Rioja tonight."

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