"There's like a thousand people on the fairway, I just want to play golf," says Bubba Watson.

Fair to say he did not like his approach to the green on the par four 11th.

Not your fault Bubba, blame the galleries, they hit it.

Image source, Reuters

Remember our threesome who all hit the dance floor from the tee on nine? Well two of them made it count.

Jason Dufner read a big break and dropped a long putt in, Adam Scott did likewise, making it look effortless, while Justin Rose could not complete the hat-trick and only makes par.

Scott four under is closing in, two off the lead, Dufner is a couple of shots further back, Rose is one under.

Red numbers for Phil Mickelson. He is threatening to break into some sort of momentum. Birdie on 10 takes him to one under.

Lee Westwood seems to have the putter going and bangs one in from 20 feet or so on the eighth to move back to two under.

Peter Alliss
BBC Sport commentator

"It's been a good opening first day so far. The weather was absolutely beautiful this morning and that set the scene for some excellent scoring.

"There is a very strong international leaderboard which adds to the excitement. This afternoon's starters haven't really grabbed the course by the scruff of the neck like the morning's groups did but the wind has started to get up a bit and that will be making a difference. With the weather set to get hotter tomorrow, things are going to get very interesting indeed.

"And what of Tiger Woods. I knew he wouldn't shoot less than a 72 today and after a bad start he really got going. His golfing brain helped him master the course and he should be very happy with posting a score of 69. However, I just wish he wasn't so grumpy all the time."

Philip Parkin
BBC Sport on-the-course reporter

"Ernie Els hit a young child with his ball on the first hole and he was very upset. Since then he has been unable to re-group."

Els is seven over at the turn.

Three balls hurtling through the air against the back-drop of a blue sky and all of them land on the ninth green.

Justin Rose, Adam Scott and Jason Dufner will all have birdie putts from inside 20 feet.

James Rowe:, external I thought the Watson / Mickelson / Els trio would be unstoppable today but the latter two aren't playing well at all.

Adrian Lorenz:, external Rory needs to back up his opening 66 tomorrow. Something he has been unable to do recently.

Ian Davidson:, external Pleasure watching golf and no one shouting 'get in the hole' after every shot.

This has a weird feel about it. All the players are picking up shots on random holes but not one of them can seemingly put a run together.

Justin Rose follows up a bogey on seven with a birdie. His putt is long, crisp and at no point does it look like missing. Back to one under ahead of the 197 yard, par three ninth.

Image source, AFP

Lee Westwood, white slacks purple shirt, clips out of the sand on seven and leaves a tricky downhill putt.

It breaks left-to-right, the pace is perfect but the line fractionally off and it lips out. Bogey for Westwood. One under for the day.

Bubba Watson runs out of lives on the ninth. He putted his way out of trouble on the last two holes but this time, he slips one past the cup and gives a shot back. Out in 34, one under, five off the lead.

Image source, AP

Henrik Stenson finished level par after a birdie on the 18th but his frustrations boiled over on the previous hole.

The Swede, who could replace Adam Scott as world number one with a first major title this week, snapped a club in half after twice tangling with heavy rough on the par-five 17th.

The European number one initially joked that he had not done anything untoward and "might have slipped," but then admitted: "The gap wedge might need a bit of love after lunch."

Asked if he would be able to get it repaired in time for Friday's second round, Stenson added: "We have the club manufacturers here so we know we can get them fixed quickly."

But yet...

First Bubba Watson sends his putt towards the hole, it stops short does it? No. Just drops. Perfectly judged and a par on the eighth. No dropped shots yet for the 2014 Masters winner.

Adam Scott rolls home comfortably on seven.

That's why they are champions. Two bunker saves.

Image source, PA

A man takes a nap on the course...Someone needs to do something to stir him. I hope he has some sun screen on.

Bubba Watson, plugged in the bunker on eight, has to dig right down on his ball to leave a tricky par putt of around 15 feet. This will be a good test and potentially a first dropped shot of the day.

Over on the seventh, Adam Scott's approach is missile like and lands heavily in a green-side sand trap. It's almost a scoop out of there for the Australian. Leaves roughly 10 feet for par.

Another eagle for the day, this time on 16 and from American Nick Watney. The long-putt draws a small shout from the crowd as it only hauls him back to one over for the day.

We all like that feeling of having no one behind you on a golf course. No pressure, no one to watch that slice into a bunker or a topped effort off the tee.

The luxury is afforded to Scoland's Scott Jamieson, England's Chris Rodgers and South Korea's Byeong-Hun An today. They are the last group and are currently teeing off.

BBC Radio 5 live

England's John Singleton talking to BBC Radio 5 live after finishing his Open debut with a six-over par 78: "I am feeling fantastic. The last eight holes I didn't play very well but it doesn't mean much when you are on the fairways of the Open Championship. It has been strange to say the least, people wanting to speak to me for the media. I worked hard to get here and I just want that to continue. I slept great last night and I have felt great all day. I am just surprised I didn't cry, it is the best day of my life."

Image source, Getty Images

If John Singleton's front nine was something of a dream on his Open debut, the back nine has turned into more of a nightmare.

The Birkenhead factory worker was level par through 11 but six dropped shots on the last seven holes left him on six over at the end of his round.

Singleton makes his living driving a forklift truck in a resin factory some 10 minutes from Hoylake. You can read his story on the BBC Sport website.

The English charge suffers and breathes again in a heartbeat as Justin Rose misses a par putt to slip to level on the sixth hole while Lee Westwood moves to two under with birdie on five.

Westwood digs out a chip from the rough and then strokes home a 10 footer to get the better of the par five.