As the first round of the British Open wore on Thursday, and Muirfield’s already baked grass absorbed more heat, early clubhouse leader Zach Johnson was looking luckier and luckier to have played his round early.  His five-under 66 held up for the lead, one shot ahead of Mark O’Meara and Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain. The best round of the afternoon was turned in by none other than Tiger Woods, whose two-under 69 was accomplished on greens that started out fast and reached diabolical by the end of the day.  “It got quick,” Woods said. “It got really quick. It’s so fiery out there. It’s hard to fathom how far the ball is going downwind. We hit a couple 6-irons 285. With some of these pin locations, it was hard to get the ball close.”  Shiv Kapur was having no trouble at all with the conditions on the front nine, scorching it for six birdies to roar into the lead. But the back nine was a much tougher go, and a double bogey and a bogey dropped him back to three-under.  Phil Mickelson, trying to win his first British Open, played early and played well and was two under after his 69.  Clearly, the conditions were a far cry from the high winds and horizontal rain in 2002 that helped spoil Woods’s attempt to complete the Grand Slam that year. But whether it’s hot or raining, Muirfield is hardly a course ripe for scoring.  Throughout the tournament, keep tabs on who is making a run for the lead with our live leader board.  Shiv Kapur squandered his chance at an eagle on No. 17 by putting his tee shot in a fairway bunker, and pushed his birdie putt to the left of the hole, settling for a disappointing par on a hole where many others made up strokes.  ESPN’s cameras didn’t find him much until the final hole, but Francesco Molinari of Italy was having one of the best rounds of the afternoon, when conditions were toughest. He shot a two-under 69, the same as Tiger Woods but with much less fanfare.  Tiger Woods, on the course: “I could see it was fine in the morning, but it continued to dry out. As we played the golf course, you could see it dry out. I putted a ball off the green.”  “I really played well. Other than the tee shot on No. 1, I played really well. I had to grind it out today. You had to stay around par because it can easily get away from you.”  Tiger Woods: “It got quick. It got really quick. It’s so fiery out there. It’s hard to fathom how far the ball is going downwind. We hit a couple 6-irons 285. With some of these pin locations, it was hard to get the ball close.”  A bogey on No. 14 has dropped the once smooth-sailing Shiv Kapur to three under. Now that Tiger Woods has finished his round, you’ll actually see way more of his shots on ESPN.  Tiger Woods rolled in a longish par putt on 18 to stay at two under, shooting a 69. His playing partner, Graeme McDowell, had another bogey (thanks to landing in the deep fluff) to finish at four over.  On 18, both Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods landed in the rough off the tee, but there was a bit of a qualitative difference. While Woods played from an ankle deep tuft. McDowell was almost consumed by the shoulder-height grass and when he took a whack at the ball, he sent a big fluffy clump flying. He appeared to be gardening, not playing golf.  Tiger Woods missed a reasonable (or, not diabolical, by Muirfield standards) putt for eagle on No. 17, but a tap-in par puts him in a nice spot at two under.  Luke Donald, who finished off the front nine with that adventurous bounce off a tent for a par, went on a wild ride on the back nine. His line so far: birdie, par, double bogey, par, triple bogey, bogey, bogey, birdie. He’s eight over with a hole to go.  Charl Schwartzel, who snapped and threw a club in a temper tantrum early, had his mood boosted a little at the end. On 18, his chip out of a greenside bunker curled toward the hole, rolled around the rim and in. He finished four over.  No. 17 has given up a bunch of eagles. Adam Scott did well there with a birdie, but not in the usual way. He rolled in a long, bending putt after putting an approach in a bunker. The birdie lifted him to one under  Lee Westwood sank a short birdie putt on No. 17 to get to one over, but more notable that he has only one more hole to sear fans’ retinas with that florescent yellow shirt.  Shiv Kapur, playing without an obvious care for nine holes, ran into immediate trouble on No. 10 with a three-putt double bogey that dropped him a shot back behind Zach Johnson.  Muirfield’s punishing greens can bite anyone. Tiger Woods had himself on a nice run and the green on No. 14 still gave him fits. His first putt rolled clear off the green. He putted back on and past the hole again and had to make a six-footer for bogey. Put him back at one under.  OK, fun’s over. Whoever put Shiv Kapur’s name at the top of the Open leaderboard can take it down now. Wait, what? Get me rewrite, Agnes.  — Cam Cole (@rcamcole) 18 Jul 13  His wayward driving seemingly ironed out, Woods has now collected three birdies in the first four holes of the back nine and has lifted himself to two under.  Charl Schwartzel of South Africa drew mountains of criticism on Twitter for throwing his 6-iron after a bad shot on 15, where he finished with a double bogey. But the television commentators didn’t seem to find it very noteworthy.  Shiv Kapur is playing lights-out. He put his tee shot within 10 feet on the par-3 No. 7 and drained his birdie putt for another birdie to take the lead for himself at six under.  On No. 10, Tiger Woods hit a solid approach shot and a perfect 10-foot putt for birdie to climb back to even par for his round.  Mark O’Meara, on the course conditions: “Sure, it was really fast, even for an Open, but I don’t think it got out of control.”  Mark O’Meara: “I was fortunate. I was pretty relaxed on the first tee today. Even at age 56 now, I just felt like, let’s just go out there and play a good solid round. I got off to such a great start and I said, let’s just keep it going.”  Shiv Kapur has not cooled off. He had a tap-in birdie after a majestic approach shot on the par-5 No. 5 and followed with a solid 10-foot birdie putt on No. 6. That puts him tied for the lead with Zach Johnson at five under. Kapur is making the most of the friendlier front nine.  Tom Lehman, now 54, lifted himself to four under with an eagle on the player-friendly No. 17 and is now in the clubhouse with a 67, one shot out of the lead. Lehman’s one major championship came at the British Open. In 1996.  It is a neck injury that has been plaguing Louis Oosthuizen. He has been struggling to practice this week and suggested before the tournament that he might not even make it to the first tee.  Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, was struggling healthwise and withdrew midround. He was four over through eight holes when, on the ninth, he shook his playing partners’ hands and headed in. The microphone on the fairway caught Graeme McDowell saying, “Feel better, buddy.”  After his adventurous par on No. 9 thanks to a fortunate bounce off a tent, he decided to compound his good fortune with a birdie on No. 10. This one required no outside assistance, just three great shots.  Mark O’Meara had a chance to join Zach Johnson in the lead at five under with a good, uphill 12-footer for birdie that was headed perfectly into the hole… until it slipped along the right rim, circled three-quarters of the way around and stayed out. He finished with a still-impressive four-under 67.  Mark O’Meara’s eagle on No. 17 was the seventh on that hole today.  Shiv Kapur missed his birdie attempt on No. 4, stopping his streak at three straight birdies. Kapur played college golf at Purdue and played a lot of amateur golf in the United States, which doesn’t explain why he’d play well on the links.  Mark O’Meara spent most of the back nine trying not to drop out of the picture after a hot start, but on No. 17 he found his stride again on the par-5. His approach shot went past the hole a bit, but he curled in a lovely 20-foot putt for eagle to get back to four under.  Luke Donald drove his tee shot into that lovely rough on No. 9 and his next shot was so bad, it ended up being good. His ball was headed way left, but hit the top of some sponsorship tents and bounced to just in front of the green. He could putt from there, a really long, curling putt, and he put that a few inches from the cup for a just-like-he-drew-it-up par.  Don’t tell Shiv Kapur of India the conditions at Muirfield are tough. He blazed out of the gate with three straight birdies and hit it close enough on No. 4 for a great roll at a fourth.  Woods’s troubles off the tee continued on No. 6, an unplayable lie followed by a poor approach shot that made his bogey a very good accomplishment. He had to drain a slippery 10-foot putt to minimize the damage.  After just missing a birdie putt on No. 7, Adam Scott drains one on No. 8 to get back to even par.  After Mark O’Meara’s scorching first nine holes, things haven’t gone so well. Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 have dropped him back to two under, a far cry from the five-under pace he set on the front nine.  Tiger Woods followed his birdie by immediately driving into the rough — not a good idea, especially where the rough is waist high — but scrambled to save par on the par-5 No. 5.  Tiger Woods got a stroke back quickly with a birdie on the par-3 No. 4 to get back to even par.  Here’s a great early story line: 18-year-old Matthew Fitzpatrick of England is the low amateur so far through nine holes at two under. Last year, he bought a ticket and attended the Open as a fan. This year? He’s in a tie for seventh as a qualifier. On Wednesday, he played a practice round with Tom Watson. Not a bad start to the week.  Zach Johnson (minus-five) finished with a 66 and a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field on Day 1. Great putting from Johnson, a 1.9 putting average.  The wind is starting to pick up a bit and the course continues to dry out. It could make things difficult for Woods & Co., who are just starting out now.  “I don’t see anyone just starting out with a realistic chance,” Phil Mickelson told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi after his round now. “I feel bad for these guys that now have to go out and play it. It’s a distinct disadvantage.”  Woods managed to get up and down out of the bunker to finish with a bogey 5 on the first hole. After where he started, it was an optimistic conclusion.  “You get a 5 here,” the ESPN analyst Andy North said, “you’re actually probably walking to the next hole with some confidence.”  There you have it. On to the second.  So Woods found his ball, but he had to take an unplayable. Will now be hitting his fourth shot out of the bunker on the right side of the green.  “I’m dumbfounded,” the analyst Curtis Strange said. “It’s just not the way you want to start.”  As I’m sure you know, Tiger is not a big fan of Muirfield. He shot 81 (his worst performance as a professional) in a miserable Saturday round here in 2002.  Well, Woods has not made things easy for himself right off the bat. On the first hole, he hooked his drive into hay so deep it was up to the waist of spectators running to find it. Woods had to hit a provisional in case the drive was unplayable.  “Easily the worst shot we’ve seen off 1 today,” the ESPN commentator Mike Tirico said.  Tiger has played only four nine-hole practice rounds since his elbow injury during the United States Open.  Mickelson missed a very short par putt on 18th to drop to (minus-two). Tough way to end.  Now Tiger Woods is set to tee off, paired with Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen. A combined 16 major wins among them.  Phil is finished. Mickelson (minus-three) shot 68 on Day 1 and is tied for fourth, a great start; he has never won a British Open.  McIlroy (plus-eight) also finished, mercifully. After taking the last three weeks off, he is in a tie for 118th with a putting average (2.8) that just will not get it done. He also hit just one fairway on the back nine. Ouch.  The British golfer Oliver Fisher made waves in 2005 when he became the youngest person to compete in a Walker Cup tournament, at age 16. He sort of fell off the map after that (he even lost his European tour card at one point) but worked his way into a qualifying spot for this year’s Open. Sure enough, he carded a one-under 70 on Day 1. Great story.  Adam Scott’s day has begun. ESPN just showed a brutal montage of Scott’s disastrous finish at the 2012 Open, in which he bogeyed the last four holes and allowed Ernie Els to sneak past him for the title.  But Scott, who rebounded by winning this year’s Masters, is definitely a favorite to be a contender again this year. As is, in my humble opinion, Luke Donald, paired with Scott this week.  Great start for Mark O’Meara (-4). Haven’t seen his name at the top of a major tournament leader board in about 15 years.  And a tough go of it for Sir Nick Faldo, who finished eight-over with a 79. Faldo, who spends most of his time in the TV booth these days, has also been on the anti-Rory bandwagon recently, saying he needs to spend more time working on his game. Faldo and Alliss should grab a dark Scotch ale together  Got to love the BBC commentator Peter Alliss, in the booth with ESPN this week, who has no problem speaking his mind about some of the star players. He seemed perplexed by Rory McIlroy’s “embarrassing” play Thursday and was asked specifically about McIlroy’s swing changes:  “I don’t understand it at all,” Alliss said. “He’s a young man and he’s confused.”  In the last five minutes, three players have eagled the par-5 17th (Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Fred Couples). If 17 keeps playing like this, things could get very interesting on Sunday.  Last time at Muirfield, in 2002, golfers had to battle a brutal rainstorm on Saturday, dropping temperatures into the 30s and rendering umbrellas practically useless.  This year, it’s about the opposite: a two-week dry spell in Scotland has dried out the fairways and the greens, and it’s expected to stay that way through the weekend. Golfers could leave their umbrellas at home.  Who might this benefit? Maybe someone like Ernie Els, the 2002 champion, who has had a solid opening round, even par through 15. The 43-year-old is chasing his third Open title.  Good morning from Muirfield! (O.K., from Manhattan, but let’s all just pretend we’re there, shall we?). I’ll be giving updates all morning on first-round action from the Open today.  Here’s a quick scan of the leader board:  Former Masters champion Zach Johnson (minus-six) is at the top through 12 holes today. Two Spaniards, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (67) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (68), are right behind.  Phil Mickelson is off to a good start, minus-one through 13, as is Mark O’Meara, who birdied two of his first four holes.  The 19-year-old Justin Spieth has just begun his day. He’s on the second hole after parring the first.  Other notables: Justin Rose, the U.S. Open champion, has struggled (plus-three), as has Rory McIlroy, who is plus-four after a double-bogey on 12.  Still to come: the Masters champion, Adam Scott, who tees off at around 9:15 a.m. Eastern, and Tiger Woods, going off at 9:45.
This year&#8217;s tournament offers several intriguing storylines, including Phil Mickelson trying for his first British Open title. Zach Schonbrun and Lynn Zinser will be providing live updates throughout the day.