British Open Championship Leaderboard Remains Wide Open

The British Open leaderboard doesn't have Rory McIlroy on top so far. In fact, the early pace is being set by golfers few have heard of. Yet this kind of leaderboard is commonplace at major championships, and at the Open -- after all, a man named Louis Oosthuizen blew out the field last year. And after the first round, the likes of Tom Lewis, Thomas Bjorn, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Lucas Glover were setting the pace.

Lewis made the biggest headlines Thursday, as the 20-year-old amateur tied for the lead at -5. However, order may have been restored in Friday's second round, as Lewis slumped to a 74 and scores are getting higher at Royal St. George.

In fact, although Glover merely shot even par Friday, it was enough to leave him tied for the lead at -4 overall as of 10 a.m. ET. Bjorn is also tied for the lead, despite shooting +1 through the front nine, while Darren Clarke's two rounds of 68 also leave him tied.

Although all of the focus was on McIlroy, this has been his worst major of the year so far. Despite his low scores at the Open last year -- save for his second round 80 -- he is struggling to move up the leaderboard this year. He has been even most of the way, save for two early bogeys Thursday, but shooting par after par hasn't been enough at the moment.

Yet now that conditions are toughening, perhaps McIlroy will be in a better position to make a move later if he doesn't make many mistakes. But being the new next big thing in golf won't save him, as those with far less hype and attention before Thursday are making the early moves.

There are some other notable names in contention, as former No. 1 Martin Kaymer is -3 through two rounds and Phil Mickelson is -1 through 36 holes himself. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Davis Love III and Tom Lehman are among those at -2 as well.

But Bjorn may be the big story of the weekend given his late collapse at St. George when the 2003 Open Championship was within reach. He hasn't done too much since then, but his place on top of the leaderboard now makes him a big potential redemption story. Yet he was sailing along through 69 holes in 2003 before it all fell apart, so Bjorn knows better than anyone that it is still early.

Will someone like Clarke, Glover, Simon Dyson, Chad Campbell or George Coetzee make a name for himself instead, or will Mickelson, Schwartzel, Kaymer or McIlroy be a more familiar leader in the end? Either way, it appears that McIlroy's blowout at the U.S. Open was an aberration, as the British Open is presumably going to be a lot tighter and more wide open, even without one big new star overshadowing everything.

Sources

Yahoo Sports- "The Open Championship- Leaderboard"