Miguel Angel Jimenez leads Open

Miguel Angel Jimenez took the first-round lead at Turnberry yesterday on the first day of the Open Championship with a six-under par 64, but five-time Open champion Tom Watson held the lead for much of the day with a 65.

Watson, who at 59 is the oldest man to hold the first day lead at the tournament, won the Open at the Ailsa course in 1977, and was playing just eight months after hip replacement surgery.

Elsewhere, Tiger Woods finished with a one-over 71, Paul Casey finished two-under at 68, and fellow European Padraig Harrington came in on 69.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Graham Spiers, the Times: "This is Watson’s 32nd Open. In his three-man playing group was Matteo Manassero, a 16-year-old Italian who was born in 1993, ten years after Watson won the last of five Open titles. Golf is remarkable in its ability to generate such contests. In how many other sports can an old hand take on a young gun and come out on top? Turnberry was calm and beguiling, so much so that Watson was moved to use ecclesiastical language to describe its beauty. “There was a spirituality about it,” he said, and those of us who had followed him step for step knew what he meant. There was a force with Watson, carrying him home over 18 holes and back across three decades."

Ewan Murray, the Guardian: "Jimenez's six-under-par 64, which equalled the lowest first round in Open history, diverted some attention away from the 59-year-old American Tom Watson, who rolled back the years with a flawless round which did not include a single dropped shot. Watson accepted conditions played a part in his performance but a fair day has clearly not doused his appetite for success. 'I still feel as if I can compete against the kids,' he insisted. Amid glorious, calm conditions on the Ayrshire coast, a pack grouped up in pursuit of Jimenez; Ben Curtis and Kenichi Kuboya scored the same 65 as Watson while three other Open champions, Mark Calcavecchia, Mark O'Meara and John Daly are among a group on three under."

Ian Chadband, Daily Telegraph: "While his teenage playing partner was all sunshine and smiles, Woods was all lip-curls and curses. While Tom Watson was talking about discovering serenity next to the Firth of Clyde, Tiger was chucking his clubs to the ground in disgust in the vicinity of the Wee Burn. This was not one of the great man’s finest five hours. Not only did he find himself in the undreamt-of position of being ignored by a battalion of Nikons, he also had the indignity of being outshone and outplayed by Ryo Ishikawa, a kid half his age and twice as famous. Well, in Japan at least." ·