Q&A with TNT's Jim Huber - Day One

Our Emmy Award-winning essayist talks about the first round.

Jim Huber, TNT's Emmy Award-winning announcer, is at the Open Championship serving as the network's feature essayist and lead interviewer. PGA.com spoke with Huber following the first round Thursday, and here are his thoughts of what unfolded at Royal St George's:

People who have never played a seaside links course across the Pond have no idea how different it is from American golf. Can you try to put into words what kind of challenge the Yanks face at Royal St George's?

Huber: I think one of the biggest contrasts the Americans face is the absolute lack of trees. It's so wide open here. To give you an idea of how wide open it is, there's one hill about 30 feet high that separates No. 5 and No. 6, and all the fans gather on top of that hill because you can see literally every single hole on the golf course. That's how wide open it is. And the course sits right on the English Channel and when the wind blows, there's nothing to obstruct it. To take that a step further, a lot of links courses go straight out and come straight back, so the prevailing wind is either in your face or at your back. Here at Royal St George's it zigzags everywhere. You have to constantly be aware of where it is; you've got to feel it on your cheek. It's such a unique environment that we don't face anywhere in the U.S., and it all has to do with the wind.

What an incredible opening round by Greg Norman, in only his third tournament in a year, no less. Can the Shark keep it up and actually contend for his third Open title?

Huber: To be honest, I don't think so because he hasn't played much competitive golf. At the same time, he's such an incredible competitor. I heard somebody from the BBC say a little while ago that Norman is built like a butcher shop dog. In other words, he's mean and tough and fighting for all the scraps. I know that at 48 he's tougher than most of the players in their 20s, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. He's very proud, and Royal St George's is where he laid his claim to fame, so I'm sure he would like to re-stake it. I saw that in him when I sat down with him for our interview after his round. I hadn't seen that in him in a while. It was fun to watch.

Tiger made three bogeys and that shocking triple-bogey at the first and he still shot a respectable 73. Now that he's had one trip around Royal St George's, should the rest of the field be prepared for a typical Tiger romp?

Huber: Probably, but he's got to keep that driver intact. Today he wasn't able to keep it anywhere near the fairway. Consequently, it cost him a lot, especially right off the bat. If he's able to reign in his driver and go back to the prevalent 3-woods and 1-irons he was hitting in all the practice rounds, he'll be more effective. One thing is the wind wasn't nearly as bad for the practice rounds; it changed completely opposite from what it was doing the first three days of practice. Everybody was caught unawares by it, so whoever learns to cope with it will do well. But that's the annual cost of the British Open -- How do you cope with the wind? Whoever copes the best wins.

Who has surprised you the most so far? Tom Watson? Ernie Els? Norman?

Huber: Watson doesn't surprise me because he still has a fire that burns brightly and he's charged up a lot with the emotions of Bruce Edwards. Norman doesn't surprise me because he's so proud and he doesn't want to just play ceremonial golf. Ernie was a big surprise. He got caught in one of those situations where he was in a group that could not get anything done. Ernie, (David) Toms and (Shigeki) Maruyama didn't make a single birdie between them. Nobody fed off anybody else. It was bizarre. So I'd say Ernie Els was the biggest surprise of the day.