It was a disappointing day for the trio of Midlanders who were blown away by the treacherous conditions at Royal Birkdale.Kenilworth’s Jamie Elson, Atherstone’s Steve Webster and Wolverhampton’s Peter Baker all face their own personal mountains to climb if they are to make it through to the weekend after tough opening rounds at The Open.Baker enjoyed the marginally better fortunes with a five-over-par 75, although he admitted he should have done better as his late tee off time gave him the advantage of the improved conditions.“I played well tee to green but my putting let me down, which is normally my strength,” he said. “I changed my grip over the last three holes because it was getting dark and it seemed to work. I holed some putts to keep me in it.“Overall, I am a little disappointed because I threw away a lot of shots on the greens but the fact it improved towards the end gives me hope for the second round.”Elson was making his Open debut but found the high winds and driving rain, which blighted the rounds of the players who teed off early, difficult to cope with. He bogeyed the first four holes and the sixth as he struggled to come to terms with the conditions. After dropping another shot at the ninth, he was six-over at the turn but, as the rain started to cease, he begun to find his game and played the next seven holes to par, just missing out on several birdie opportunities.However, he dropped shots on the final two holes to leave him with an eight-over 78.“My opening tee shot probably tells you how I was feeling,” said the 27-year-old. “I was nervous and I hit a bit of a duff one there but I didn’t feel too bad after that. “When the weather conditions are as difficult as they were then you know that everyone is going to be struggling. That takes the pressure off to an extent. As soon as the rain stopped I hit a couple of good shots and I started to relax a bit. “Overall I have had a great day and you can’t help but enjoy it out there. I was pleased that I started to play well after the first few holes and played a few good shots.“I am disappointed to have bogeyed the last two holes. I had a bad break on 17 to drop a shot and then three-putted the last. As far as the cut is concerned, it has made it a lot harder. If I had made four at 17, which I could easily have done, I would have been five-over playing the last, which would have been pretty reasonable considering. But if I get off to a good start tomorrow and have a decent draw weather wise, you never know.”Webster, who won the Silver Medal as the top amateur at the Open at St Andrew’s in 1995, was a shot behind Elson on nine-over after a real mixed bag. The 33-year-old had three birdies, six bogeys and three double-bogeys in his 79. However, he promised there was no way he would follow former Open champion Sandy Lyle and American Rich Beem who abandoned their opening rounds.“It has been a real battle and it will be the same all week, but I am up for that battle,” Webster vowed. “I will never give up. I don’t care of I shoot 200 tomorrow I will never give up, it is the British Open!“It was very difficult because the wind wasn’t just into your face, it was across you as well and there were some 30 to 40mph gusts. It was tough just to hit the greens and when you did hit the greens you are faced with tricky puts, so it was just really, really tough. “The guys who had the early starts had about the worst of it because it was just about playable during my final four holes. It was touching on impossible to get the ball near the pins.“It is frustrating because it is the British Open and it means a lot to people, and I probably tried a little too hard. Before you know it you have shot 79. I know that if I shoot a good score in my second round then I will be back in it..”
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