The fierce storms that have wreaked havoc at the Open Championship could intensify to force the suspension of the tournament tomorrow. Royal Birkdale is preparing for gale-force winds and torrential rain even worse than the weather system that pounded the course on the northwest coast of England until early afternoon yesterday as players were trying to complete their first rounds.

At what should have been the height of summer, the conditions were so bad that Sandy Lyle, the 1985 champion, walked off the course on 11 over par after playing only ten holes and Rich Beem, a former US PGA champion, quit after nine holes on 12 over.

The mayhem spread throughout the field, with only three of the 156 players registering scores under par - Graeme McDowell, of Northern Ireland, Rocco Mediate, of the United States, and Robert Allenby, of Australia. Some of the biggest names in golf were among the worst hit. Phil Mickelson, the world No 2, finished on nine over par and Ernie Els, the 2002 champion, will start today on ten over.

As the last bedraggled groups were playing through winds gusting at more than 30mph yesterday evening, officials from the Royal and Ancient, which organises the Open, were meeting to discuss the impact of the appalling conditions.

Expert View

It was hard to describe Lyle's behaviour as anything other than bad manners. It was ill-advised and disrespectful to the organisers

John Hopkins

• More

• Post a comment

Times Archive, 1983: Tom Watson's five-pointed star

Watson won the Open at Birkdale with characteristic courage, emulating Peter Thomson's five titles

• Trevino, the champion who just loves to play golf

• Thomson's fifth victory his greatest

• Palmer's power too much for Open golf field

Birkdale braced for the worst

Gale-force winds and rain threaten to leave the Open in tatters as players criticise "unplayable" course

• Hardy few hold heads up high at Birkdale

• Players cut up rough over Birkdale tees

• Greg Norman in his element after 'fairest' test

Multimedia

• Was Lyle right to quit the Open?

• Justin Rose's Open diary

• Today's tee times

Related Links

• Hardy few hold heads up high at Birkdale

• Players cut up rough over tees

• Norman in his element after 'fairest' test

Multimedia

• The Open latest

• The art of lighting a fag in the rain

Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive, said that they had been caught out by the severity of the gales that blitzed the course, which is on the fringe of the seaside town of Southport, in Lancashire.

Dawson had been interrupted during dinner on Wednesday night by an urgent call from the Meteorological Office, giving warning that the storms were getting worse, but it was too late to take emergency measures for yesterday’s play. “We will have to get better stuff from the Met Office than we have at the moment,” Dawson said, although the Met Office insisted that it was providing hour-by-hour information and was predicting that the storms will get worse tomorrow, with gales gusting to 45mph.

That could put the tournament in peril, with the R&A worried that the course will become unplayable. Dawson said: “If the wind is as colossal as forecast, you have to wonder whether there will be play at all. It is not a safety issue but a matter of judging whether the balls are staying still on the greens. That’s the only thing of concern.”

Some players thought that the course was already unplayable, claiming that they were being asked to drive into fierce headwinds from tees set too far back on some holes. Jerry Kelly, the American who had a round of 83, 13 over par, said: “They are trying to embarrass people. This is the worst set-up I have ever seen. Use some common sense - they didn’t.”

Simon Dyson, the Englishman who finished on 12 over par, said: “It is nearly unplayable and that’s no exaggeration. This is the worst day I have played in. I think they [the R&A] will come under fire.”

But Dawson defended Royal Birkdale, saying: “It’s been a tough day by the seaside. A lot of players have been frustrated and a lot of players are not used to these conditions. But there is nothing wrong with the course.”

Mediate, 45, who took Tiger Woods to a play-off at the US Open last month, was one of the handful able to salvage a good score from the trying conditions. Three more players - Bart Bryant, of the US, and two Australians, Adam Scott and Greg Norman, the veteran who is twice an Open winner, are on level par.

The British charge was led by Anthony Wall and Simon Wakefield, of England, on one over par, with Ian Poulter, their countryman, on two over. Padraig Harrington, the defending champion from Ireland, played through the pain of a sore wrist to register a 74, four over par.