As far as youngsters go, most people expect Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy to make the most serious run at the 2011 British Open. But so far, England's Danny Willett is doing pretty well through nine holes.
Willett, the 2007 English Amateur Championship winner, finished the front nine at an even par. At the moment, he is two strokes behind 51-year-old Mark Calcavecchia for the lead.
The 23-year-old Willett parred each of the first six holes before birdying the par-five seventh, which takes a tricky turn at the 300-yard mark. Willett negotiated that without any difficulty, and then punched it home to move to one-under.
Unfortunately, Willett didn't finish the front nine all that well, as he notched a bogey on the par-four ninth.
On balance, nothing overly impressive, but Willett's front nine is really not that bad when you consider the fact that this is his very first British Open. And make no mistake, Royal St. George's is not an easy course to tackle.
Willett did get some pretty good practice in at the Scottish Open, though. Playing at Stuart Castle, a links course not too unlike Royal St. George's, Willett finished at 10-under. It was only good enough for a 31st-place finish, but it's apparent that it did help prepare him for the British Open.
Willett's best showing on the European Tour this year was at the Volvo China Open back in April. He finished the tournament at 18-under, good enough for a seventh-place finish.
With several notables teeing off in the next hour or so, it's possible that this will be the last we hear of Willett. If he wants to stay in the conversation, he's going to have to earn it.
Or he could just get lucky. Despite all evidence to the contrary, it does happen in golf.
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