TURNBERRY, Scotland — Anthony Kim took three swipes to escape a pot bunker, and by the time he was done making a mess of the second hole at Turnberry on Thursday, he had a quintuple-bogey 9.
But somehow, it got worse.
Trying to shake his miserable start in the British Open, he was turning his neck to loosen up when he felt it grab. It wasn't long before the 24-year-old Kim was lying on his stomach between dunes as a trainer tried to work out the pain.
"It was just a crick in my neck," Kim said. "It was a little awkward, but I'm fine."
What really hurt was his putter. Despite his rugged start, Kim gave himself birdie chances on just about every hole, and didn't convert nearly enough of them. Even so, he fought back with an 8-iron into the 16th hole. He went right at the flag, only to see the ball spin back, catch the slope and tumble into the burn. He made double bogey.
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Kim finished with a 3-over 73.
"That's the best I've hit the ball all year," Kim said. "That's why I'm so frustrated. I hit it great, and I putted like a donkey."
Shot of the day
Retief Goosen recently added a 62-degree sand wedge, and it sure came in handy Thursday.
Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, looked to be in trouble on the par-5 17th when his second shot went into a bunker just inches from the sodded wall. He appeared to have no way to take a stance, and not much of a shot.
He knelt down, both knees, then flexed his left knee on the grass and tried to plant his right foot in the sand.
"I thought if anything, it would hit the side and stay in the bunker," Goosen said. "I thought about hitting backward to the middle of the bunker. But once I got my foot set, I thought I might have a chance. I'm lucky I have a 62-degree wedge."
Even so, he had to hit it perfectly, and he did. With a big swing and a splash of sand, the ball landed on the green and rolled to within 3 feet of the hole for a birdie.
Rory McIlroy was duly impressed.
"That's one of the best up-and-downs I've ever seen," McIlroy said. "I don't know if I'd play it on my knees or take an unplayable, or what I'd do with it."
Aches and gains
Mark Calcavecchia won the Canadian Open when he was 45, then won at Innisbrook at 47. He turned 49 last month, but he's not holding out much hope for the cycle to continue.
"My thoughts of winning have pretty much gone out the window as time goes by," Calcavecchia said after opening with a 67.
His back has been bothering him lately, and the '89 Open champion contemplated staying home, especially after he had to play 36 holes Sunday to finish the John Deere Classic. But his love of this event is the only reason he decided to play.
"Once I was done, I took a few more Aleve and a couple of beers, and I was OK and gone on the plane," he said. "And several more beers went flowing down. The next thing you know, we were landing."
Chip shots
• Six former Open champions shot 68 or better, including Mark O'Meara (67) and John Daly (68).
• Todd Hamilton, who won the 2004 British Open up the Ayrshire coast at Royal Troon, was 8 over through 10 holes but rallied for a 75.
• U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover opened with a 72.
