Reigning world number one Luke Donald admitted he could have done better on the first day of the Open Championship.
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The Englishman, bidding to win his first Major, made three birdies and four bogeys to finish the opening day on one-over alongside world number two Lee Westwood. Donald goes into the second round six shots of leaders Thomas Bjorn and Tom Lewis.
Q. What did you make of it out there today?
LUKE DONALD: It was tricky. The conditions weren't easy. The wind at times was very gusty, but I felt like I played a pretty solid round, other than some missed opportunities on the greens. I had three or four lip-outs today, a few other opportunities that went amiss. It really could have been a very good round. 71 is still solid, but certainly could have been a little bit better if I'd have had the putter going.
Q. (Inaudible.)
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I hit a great drive there, a lovely 5-iron and had a great opportunity again, like a lot of holes today. I overread that one a little bit, underread some. Didn't quite see the lines as well today as I would have hoped. But hopefully come of those missed opportunities will be gained in the next few days.
Q. (Inaudible.)
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, certainly we'll just take every day as it comes. Very happy the way I struck it for the most part today, a couple loose irons on the back nine. But hit a lot of solid shots and gave myself some good conditions.
Q. Conditions and atmosphere out there, big crowds and tricky golf?
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, Open Championships are always fun, great atmosphere, getting a lot of applause onto the tees, a lot of people turning up. It's a great event to be a part of.
Q. What was the most satisfying part of your round today?
LUKE DONALD: I suppose making birdie out of the left rough on 17. Things were starting to slip a little bit away from me. Momentum was certainly not on my side, and it came out perfectly out of a bit of a tricky lie with a wedge on 17 and was able to make that putt. I think that was my only one-putt green on the back side. And other than that it was a little bit of a struggle coming in. That gave me a little bit of momentum, and hopefully I can carry that over to tomorrow.
Q. You started out as though you might put together a really nice round.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I had a lip-out on 6, and I missed a short putt on 10, a bunch of putts, really; 12, another one that hit the hole. So it was frustrating. There were some putts that felt like they were heading into the hole and were just breaking off at the last minute or just not turning, and that's the way it goes sometimes. You stay patient, you pick good lines and hit those solid putts, and that's all you can do.
Q. (Inaudible.)
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, that was one of the upsides I'd say. That was probably a 30-footer that was probably going at least ten foot by.
Q. (Inaudible.)
LUKE DONALD: I didn't really think about it, to be honest. Obviously you hear a few shouts from the crowd, No. 1, and "congrats" and stuff like that, and you try and draw from all the good stuff that got you to No. 1. But no, I haven't really thought about playing this week. It doesn't feel that much different.
Q. Was there more of a reception?
LUKE DONALD: Certainly, yeah. Certainly a lot more applause onto tees, and I think people appreciating the good golf that I've been playing lately.
Q. Do you like the adulation?
LUKE DONALD: Sure, absolutely. As I said, it's recognition that I've been playing well. You try and use the energy of the crowd to your advantage.
