The Open 2013: Zach Johnson has early lead; Shiv Kapur emerges from the shadows

On a course that was fit to race a formula one car, Muirfield held a mirror to the limitations of technology and showered light on those with a fertile mind.

The course inside the hallowed gates of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is a pair of concentric circles – running clockwise first and then the other way. Zach Johnson took full advantage of playing in the first half, when it was relatively less quick, to post a 66 that secured the day for the American.

Zach Johnson

India’s Shiv Kapur had the outright lead and a country in thrall at six under through nine, before a double at the 10th dragged him back to a 68. Mark O’Meara turned back the clock to carve a mightily impressive 67 at the ripened age of 56. If the first day was an indicator, it will take patience and plenty of ideating from the eventual champion this year at Gullane in Scotland.

The sun-baked course was so fast, some felt you could putt from the fairway near the green. It was so firm, the ball raced past the flag with the enthusiasm of a driver winning for the first time in his career – leaving aghast golfers gasping in pain.

No one captured the pain better than Rory McIlroy, whose struggles were accentuated by the wickedly running ball around the punishing course. McIlroy finished the day feeling “brain dead” and with a blood-stained card that read 8 over 79. The young Irishman will need a shrink to cajole him back to life from that nightmare.

In stark contrast, Johnson, among the early starters, was living a dream start. Johnson made an eagle at the fifth and four other birdies to stand tall at six under through the 12th. The only blemish of an outstanding first round came with a bogey at the 14th. Johnson made par at each of the final four holes to ensure there was no further damage. The American isn’t entirely new to first round glory – he had a 65 at the Open in Lytham last year where he eventually tied for ninth.

Two unlikely men are staring down Johnson’s heels – Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and the 1998 Open winner Mark O’Meara. And they straddled different ends of the age spectrum. The 29-year-old Spaniard from Las Palmas earned his stripes when he won the Dubai Desert Classic last year. The sunny conditions suited the man from the Mediterranean, who made six birdies and two bogeys to rub shoulders with the American veteran.

O’Meara’s final success on the tour came at this very tournament 15 years ago. Inspired by the second spring of men like Bubba Watson and Greg Norman, who contended for the Open in the recent past, the Texan made a run for it on the front nine. The man who won the Masters and the Open, all in 1998, made five birdies on the front nine before slipping badly with bogeys at the 10th, 14th and 15th. But just when it seemed that his round might be dissolving in the Sun, O’Meara pulled off a magical eagle at the 17th to recover to a brilliant 67.