British Open — Day 1

It would figure the first time in oh, I don't know, say 10 majors that I don't make Miguel Angel-Jiminez one of my picks that he would fire an opening-round 66 and be a stroke off the lead.

I'm happy for "The Mechanic." The guy is all personality, and how cool would it be for a Spaniard to win the Open in tribute to the late Seve Ballesteros?

The first day of the Open wasn't quite as exiting as the last few have been. I think everyone is certainly waiting for the wind and rain to pick up to bring scores crashing back down to earth, but even if that's not the case, I still wouldn't look for a runaway winner like in the U.S. Open. If conditions stay the same, I still don't see anyone cracking double digits under par. I'm gonna say right where it's at now will win it come Sunday — 5 under.

Rory McIlroy is 1-over and certainly still in the hunt, but with no less than 10 prominent members of the national sports media anointing him as the "next Tiger," it's not going to be a surprise when he doesn't live up to the hype. I'm not saying McIlroy won't be successful, and I'm not saying he won't win more majors in his career. But Tiger is Tiger. Until someone rattles off a Tiger-like winning streak and does so in the same insane fashion just let golfers play their own game. Tiger will be back himself soon enough.

Phil Mickelson is hanging around at even par which is good for "Lefty" when it comes to this major. Normally by the weekend he's pretty much out of the running. It will be interesting to see if he can turn things around Saturday.

More action tomorrow ....

My picks through round 1: Lee Westwood — +1, T51 - slow start, finished strong, needs to keep it up. Sergio Garcia — E, T36 - fairly steady, plenty of pars. John Daly — +2, T71 - birdied the first hole, non-dramatic the rest of the way, but no 13s yet! Tom Watson — +2, T71 - another slow and steady round. Luke Donald — +1, T51 - five bogeys is too many, flirting with an ugly round.