Open Championship 2013: Thursday timeline

Updates from Muirfield as the first day of the 2013 Open Championship gets underway

Open Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Open Championship 2013: Thursday timeline

8 am - Dustin Johnson warms up on the range ahead of his tee time with Bubba Watson and Nicolas Colsaerts. Many people think the winner will come from this three-ball.

8.30 am - GM's Jezz Ellwood scrambles around on the rocks by North Berwick beach, desperately looking for a place to film. He's predicted a strong showing from Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Ernie Els. Don't forget, you can still enter our prediction competition for your chance to win a great prize. Simply visit our Facebook page.

9.30 am - We're also giving away ten TaylorMade commemorative Open driver headcovers. Head to www.golf-monthly.co.uk/competitions to enter and keep checking our Twitter and Facebook pages for other competitions throughout the week. You could win some of the below prizes...

11 am - I stop in at the R&A swingzone at the tented village, where a host of PGA Professionals are on hand to give out free golf lessons all week - a terrific initiative and indicative of the R&A's tireless efforts to try and grow the game.

12 pm - Golf Monthly editor-at-large Bill Elliott on Woods: "Tiger has got a problem at the moment. He is playing well but not in the majors and that may be building into a genuine psychological poroblem."

12.47 pm - Rafa Cabrera-Bello pulls himself from the golfing abyss with a fine opening 67 to claim the clubhouse lead on four-under-par.

1.45 pm - Adam Scott, the defending Masters champions, tells the BBC: "I'm feeling very good about things and in the last 10 days my game has shaped up nicely. Last year was a good experience."

2.20 pm - Dustin Johnson, who opened up with a three-under-par 68, said he feels very comfortable at Muirfield, and that his 3-iron is going further than his 3-wood.

3 pm: I paid a visit to the Golf Foundation's stand in the tented village. They do a great job encouraging youngsters into the game with their HSBC Golf Roots programme, which reaches hundreds of thousands of youngsters each year. It was also great to see the crazy golf putting great packed full of children.

Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x