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John Singleton soaking up British Open experience

Open qualifier John Singleton overcame a case of first-hole jitters to shoot a 6-over 78. “I was close to tears,” he said.David Davies/Associated Press

HOYLAKE, England — On a typical Thursday at 10:30 a.m., John Singleton would be making paints and varnishes in a resin factory. Maybe driving around in a forklift truck.

Not this Thursday morning.

On this one-off occasion, Singleton was 10 minutes down the road at the British Open at Royal Liverpool, whipping up the crowd on the first tee before taking the biggest — and most nerve-wracking — shot of his life.

''I just wanted to enjoy it,'' the 30-year-old qualifier said, with a huge grin. ''I may never get the chance again.''

His boss closed the factory and bought co-workers tickets to watch Singleton on his big day. Singleton's friends and relatives were there, too, cheering him on every hole and exchanging remarks with him as he walked the fairways during his opening round.

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Singleton wound up shooting a 6-over 78, having been even par after 11 holes. He probably won't be making the weekend at Hoylake but that doesn't matter.

''I shot 6 over, it feels like I shot 6 under,'' he said. ''I just played in the Open Championship.

''I'm not some big-time Charlie who is going to win — obviously I'd love to win — I was there to enjoy myself, soak it all up.''

Singleton, a happy-go-lucky Liverpudlian, took his spot in the 156-man field after winning a sudden-death playoff in final qualifying. A slew of knee injuries kept him out for three years, the main reason why he hasn't made it on the professional circuit.

So this was his chance in the spotlight — and he was determined not to waste it.

''I was close to tears,'' he said of his experience on the first tee. ''The Open is at home. To have everyone there was something special.''

Friends from his local pub followed him the whole way round. They were in regular conversation but sometimes they went too far.

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''They were telling me to throw them some sun cream,'' Singleton said. ''I said, 'I'm playing at the Open!' They said, 'Throw me some sun cream, I'm burning.' So I threw them some. They kept it as well.''

Brothers in arms

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari are pretty much inseparable.

The brothers were partners in Europe's winning Ryder Cup side in 2010. A year earlier, they had teamed up to win the World Cup for Italy at Mission Hills.

Now they are together on the Open leaderboard.

About 30 minutes after Edoardo signed for a 4-under 68 in the opening round at Hoylake, Francesco rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt at No. 18 to shoot the same score. They ended the day tied for third with five others.

''We were here on Sunday practicing together,'' said Francesco, the younger sibling by nearly 2 years. ''Probably we did a good job.''

The brothers have been feeding off each other's games ever since they dominated their local club championships at Circolo Golf Torino as teenagers.

''It was a big thing growing up in Italy,'' Francesco said. ''At our age, there weren't that many golfers playing well so there was someone that you could compete against every day — even just training with him every day, it was good to get the best out of our games.''

Lost without driver Justin Rose played the first two holes at the British Open without a driver on Thursday after it was mistakenly removed from his golf bag and shipped nearly 300 kilometers south of Royal Liverpool.

Rose's caddie, Mark Fulcher, had arranged to send two drivers to a couple of his friends in the south of England. Unfortunately, one of the drivers he gave away belonged to Rose.

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''It was a bit of a comedic start to the day, no doubt,'' said Rose, who managed to get the driver returned — but only after he started his first round in Hoylake.

The 2013 US Open champion shot an even-par 72, leaving him six strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy, but said he hadn't been affected by his club troubles in the morning.

''I knew I would have it by the time I really, really needed it out there, toward the 7th and the back nine,'' he said. ''The way the course was playing I knew I wasn't going to require the driver for a good couple of hours.''

Phil feels good Phil Mickelson has been saying it for months: His score isn’t reflective of how close he feels he is to playing well.

He shot 74 on Thursday, eight shots off the lead. Even so, Mickelson said he had better control of the ball than he has had in a long time. He played in the tougher afternoon conditions. And he's not about to write off his chances of defending his British Open title.

''I remember back in '04 at Troon I shot 74 the first day in pretty benign conditions came out the next day and shot 66 and got right back in it,'' Mickelson said. ''And I feel like I'm more on that side of the equation than having another round over par because I just think the way I'm starting to hit it and the way I feel with the putter is just totally different.''

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Mickelson actually opened with a 73 at Royal Troon and finished one shot out of a playoff.

He gave away two shots on the final hole Thursday by hitting his second shot on the par 5 out-of-bounds. Mickelson didn't even realize the shot landed out-of-bounds.

Royal Liverpool has out-of-bounds inside the course, and Mickelson and many others don't like it. On most courses, out-of-bounds markers are boundaries of the course.

Captain eyes Tiger

Five-time Open champion Tom Watson opened with a 73 and was headed to the practice range to iron out some problems.

Then, the 64-year-old put on his Ryder Cup captain's hat as he contemplated the 69 shot by Tiger Woods.

Woods is a long shot to make the team on points having missed three months because of a back injury. Watson wants him on the team, though he has said he needs to see some level of performance from the 14-time major champion.

''I would like to see Tiger do well for selfish reasons to see him get on the team,'' Watson said. ''And 3 under right now is a good start.''

Stenson snaps Henrik Stenson is known to lose his temper on occasion. A week after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship last year, he smashed in his locker at Conway Farms out of fatigue and frustration.

He had a mini-meltdown again Thursday.

After hitting his tee shot into deep rough left of the 17th fairway, and taking two hacks at it without much progress, the Swede was walking along when he slammed his wedge over his knee and snapped it in two.

''I didn't see anything. Did you?'' Stenson said with a smile when asked which club was broken. ''My gap wedge is going to need a little love after lunch.''

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Stenson has a backup wedge for Friday.

English testAn Englishman has not won The Open in England since Tony Jacklin in 1969. The low Englishman after the first round was Ashley Chesters (70), the European Amateur champion . . . Bryden Macpherson of Australia made par on his last four holes for a 49 on the back nine. He shot 90 . . . K.J. Choi shot an even-par 72, but failed to make a single par — four birdies and five bogeys — on the back nine.