• The Open, Round One

Rory proves his KO power

Paul Lawrie went easy on Graeme McDowell © PA Photos

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ESPN will have live updates and exclusive coverage from the Open Championship when it gets underway this week - with reporters at Royal Lytham & St Annes to bring you all the insight

Gory Rory
Rory McIlroy's tee shot at the 15th flew so far right that it hit a spectator on the head, leaving him on the floor (the Ulsterman apologised, and handed over a glove). Luckily he seemed OK - well, maybe a little groggy - but really the situation wasn't helped by a burly steward shouting, "No-one touch the ball!", which was enough to make anyone sink to the turf.

Ern-ing his stripes
Ernie Els carded a fine round of 67 on Thursday, putting him just three shots off Adam Scott's early lead. The South African's score was significant for a different reason, however - it was his 36th under-par round at the Open Championship, leaving him just one behind Sir Nick Faldo for the all-time record. The way the South African is currently playing (and the forecast for the rest of the week), it is a record he could feasibly break before the week is out. For comparison, Jack Nicklaus shot just 33 under-par rounds during his Open career - although he ended up with three Claret Jugs. Ernie, for now at least, only has one.

Lawrie & Hardy
Understatement of the day went to Paul Lawrie, who was sitting in the BBC studio when a shot from Graeme McDowell went absolutely careering off target and into no man's land. "He's hit that a wee bit skew-whiff," whispered Lawrie, as the rest of us squealed, "What was that?!"

Lee-an back
Before the tournament, we'd heard all week how important it was to stay out of the bunkers - and Lee Westwood showed why. At one point his ball was wedged against the wall, meaning he not only had to play out backwards, but he had to do so left-handed. Somehow, conjuring a Twenty20-esque reverse-sweep manoeuvre, he managed to get it up and out of there. Any casual players would still have been in there come Sunday.

Grass always greener
Let us never doubt the dedication of the staff at Lytham - they were on the course at 0325 on Thursday morning, cutting the greens to make sure all was ready for action. Bet there were plenty of volunteers for that gig.

Elementary, Watson
As Bubba Watson strode towards the 600-yard (or so) par-five 11th with pink driver in tow, few could have predicted the meaty biff he was about to produce. A couple of swishes later, he had landed the ball on the green. "We didn't used to go that far on holiday," cooed the BBC's Ken Brown.

Going to town
Australia's Aaron Townsend, on his major debut, gave us one of the more bizarre major moments: at the 18th, he found himself wedged in a bunker. Instead of playing out backwards, which seemed his only option, he putted the ball further into the bunker, away from the lip, before splashing out. He later took a three wood on the green.

Ivor good joke
Ivor Robson doesn't have the toughest job in golf - after all, he doesn't actually have to hit any shots - but his task is up there. The official starter for the Open for a number of years, Robson stands on the first tee from the beginning of the first round at 6.30am through to the final tee time of the day at 4.11pm to introduce all 156 players in the field. He does so without taking a break for food or the restroom, a pretty impressive effort.

On Tuesday, however, Robson was briefly upstaged. Preparing to announce Barry Lane, the first member of the day's first threeball, Robson found himself interrupted by a member of the crowd. Perhaps proving that the idiots at Wimbledon who continue to shout "Come on, Tim!" during breaks in play have found alternative employment for the rest of the summer, one wannabe comedian shouted, "On the tee from Scotland, Ivor Robson!" to the rapturous applause of ... absolutely no-one. Leave it to the professionals, hey?

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