British Masters: Ewen Murray gives his verdict on day one at The Grove
Thursday 13 October 2016 20:32, UK
Ewen Murray reflects on an entertaining opening day of the British Masters and discusses the change in conditions, impressive rounds from Westwood, Warren and Hatton, and his admiration for the loyal golf fans.
The morning lads had the better of the conditions for me. Yes it was colder and we had some rain about, but you just wrap up, get out there and get on with it.
The greens appeared to be a little more receptive early on, and I thought the scoring conditions - apart from the cold - were very good this morning and that was reflected on the leaderboard.
Lee Westwood was out early, and it was hugely important for him to get a good round under his belt after the disappointment of Hazeltine a fortnight ago. At the start of the week, he was apologetic that he had let his best friend down at the Ryder Cup.
But I didn't think that was the case. If you look at his record over 10 appearances, he's been a stalwart for the European team. You don't let anyone down at the Ryder Cup - you win as a team and you lose as a team, it's never down to one individual.
Lee bounced back with a nice 67 today and that was huge for his confidence and his self-esteem. He looked close to his best, and his iron play in particular was stunning.
Westwood is one off the lead held jointly held by Richard Sterne, Mikko Ilonen, Tommy Fleetwood and it was great to see Marc Warren in a tie at the top as well.
Marc has struggled for consistency this year, and he missed four cuts in five tournaments before boosting his bank balance with a tie for fifth at the Dunhill Links last week.
I've been watching him for a number of years now, and when he's on his game, he's as good as anyone on the European Tour. We saw the best of him in '06 and '07 when he picked up a couple of wins, and then there was a long gap before he won the Made in Denmark in 2014.
When you have an in-form Marc Warren, he's clearly in the top bracket of players, but he needs to find out why he keeps having these lulls that tend to go on for some months. We all wonder why, but he's the only one that can unravel that.
There are no real obvious weaknesses in his game, but there's obviously something that causes the downturns. But when he gets an injection of confidence, we see the player we know he can be.
Talking of confidence, Tyrrell Hatton also impressed me in the first round at The Grove, especially when he responded to an ugly double-bogey with immediate back-to-back birdies to return to three under.
I'm not sure he would have come back like that two or three years ago, but what we saw today was a sign of maturity and we wish him a happy 25th birthday for Friday.
Tyrrell has his first victory tucked away, and it was a big win at the Home of Golf last week, and that is something he will remember for the rest of his life. He wasn't quite at his best today, he missed a few tee shots to the left, but he still came away with a 68.
The conditions may have been less than ideal today, but we still saw bumper crowds turning up for another Sky Sports Thursday at the British Masters. I think it's fantastic to be able to give away 20,000 tickets to the fans for such a big event.
The Grove is a great location as it's easily accessible from all angles, and I admire the loyal golf fans in this country. They are indestructible and turn out in all weathers to watch high-quality golf.
It adds to the spectacle of the tournament, and I'm really looking forward to watching how this one unfolds over the weekend.
