Open Championship 2013 blog: Friday quotes...

Quotes from Friday's early starters at the 2013 Open, among them old-timers O'Meara and Lehman, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood

Tom Lehman

More forthright insight from Friday's early starters, including veterans Lehman and O'Meara, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson

Brushed aside by Danny Willett...

Q - "When you get to the turn, are you thinking about a number you need to post?"

A - "No, you're just trying to play golf." Mark O'Meara sums up why he was 11 shots worse on Friday...

"The short game is key. You have to putt well. I did none of those well. That's why I shot 7-over."

Tom Lehman is even more forthright about his play today...

"Really ugly golf. From the beginning to the end, just seems like I got progressively worse." Could age have anything to do with it? More from Tom...

"I think when you're older, the bad rounds on a difficult course like this tend to be worse than they were when you were 35."

Lehman on yesterday's pin on the 18th...

"The 18th hole, for the speed of the greens, was a terrible pin just because you couldn't go long. Anything past the hole was going to go 6 to 8 feet by, and I don't know if that's what you want."

Lehman on making three times as many as he was hoping on 15...

"I hit a wedge there that almost went in the hole, trickled off to the right and ended up going in the bunker. I'm thinking 2 and ended up with a 6." Lehman gets a journalist to effectively answer his own question when asked why there were so many good scores from Americans yesterday...

A - "Who knows why"

Q - "There are 49 here from America."

A - "That's quite a lot!"

Lee Westwood predicts a torrid afternoon for the late starters.

"It was just getting harder as the holes progressed, tougher to score, tougher to get it close. Two under could be leading at the end of the day."

"It's tough for everybody, so smile your way through."

Graeme McDowell was content with making the cut and predicted a very tough weekend for the field...

"I only win when I make cuts. Get your money on me now! Literally anything a little under par could win a this point." On playing partner Woods...

"Tiger certainly looks like he's very close to being back. There will be no surprise to me if he's picking up the Claret Jug on Sunday night."

Tiger Woods was cautiously optimistic about his chances but spoke of the difficulty the players would face over the weekend..

"It's tough out there. It's so fast. Today I hit a couple of six-irons that were going 280 and a sand wedge that went 180. It's going to be a big test."

On his Open and future major prospects...

"I'm not going to win every major I play in, but I can certainly try to put myself there. If I give myself enough opportunities I'll get my share, and I think I have so far in my career."

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response