SOUTHPORT, England (AP) -- Forget the leaderboard. The whipping wind and soaking rain were getting the best of everyone at Royal Birkdale. The British Open got off to a cold, soggy start today, with storms rolling off the Irish Sea turning the historic links course into a house of horrors.

Phil Mickelson lost a ball in the tangly rough. Sandy Lyle and Rich Beem both gave up. Vijay Singh signed for an 80. So did Ernie Els.

Turns out, Tiger Woods couldn't have picked a better time to miss his first major since 1996. He was back home in the States, all warm and comfy as he recovered from knee surgery.

Certainly, Kenny Perry must have been chuckling to himself after taking all that grief for deciding to skip the oldest of the majors because he didn't think it suited his game.

"It got to the point where you just don't care," moaned Pat Perez, who shot a 12-over 82. "Now I know why Kenny stayed home."

Eight hours after Craig Parry hit the opening shot of the tournament, only one player was in the red: Sweden's Robert Karlsson, at 1 under through five holes. Seven of the first 14 players to finish shot higher than 80, and the average score by early afternoon was 77.

"Par is irrelevant on a day like this," said Parry, who struggled to a 77. "You can only laugh and take it on the chin. The golf course is going to win."

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen was the leader in the clubhouse with a 71. The South African overcame a double-bogey at No. 6 and somehow managed to put up four birdies in brutal conditions that made golf's oldest championship a stern test even without Woods looming over the field.

"One of the best" was how Goosen summed up his round. "It was a battle out there."

Despite a sore wrist, defending champion Padraig Harrington got off to a solid start with a 74. He would have been even closer to the lead if not for a bogey-bogey finish, but was pleased with his round given that he seriously considered withdrawing just a day earlier.

"I think the bad day helped," Harrington said. "You had no time to think about anything else but your next shot."

Perez awoke at 3:30 a.m. to get in a workout. He knew right away that it wasn't going to be a very pleasant round.

"It was raining and howling," he recalled. "I said, 'This is going to be some kind of day."'

The forecast looked more promising in the afternoon, which should help late starters such as Sergio Garcia, who lost to Harrington a year ago in a playoff after missing a 10-foot putt on the 72nd hole.

Five-time Open champion Tom Watson birdied the first hole to send a roar through the shivering gallery and went on to shoot 74. But it was a miserable, short-lived tournament for another former winner. Lyle, who won the Open at Royal St. George's in 1985, pulled out after playing the first 10 holes in an 11-over 49.

(July 17, 2008)