Generally, I'm of the opinion that there is no in sports place for quitting. But I'll make an exception for today's first round of the British Open. Conditions could kindly be described as horrific, and the average score for players teeing off before noon local time was 79 (those going off in the afternoon enjoyed rounds that averaged 77, woo hoo!).

For Sandy Lyle, '85 Open champion, and Rich Beem, '02 PGA champion, 79 would've been a welcome score. Unfortunately, neither player got past the 10th hole this morning.

"It's just a difficult, difficult golf course," Lyle said after walking off the course. "I was out of whack with my golf game and I think it was best to call it a day." ...

I'm fine," Beem said when reached on his cell phone. "I've played a lot of golf and I'm fried. If I had continued, I don't think I would have broken 90. I said very gracefully to the guys on the ninth green, 'I'm sorry, but I can't continue.' It was ugly."

Well, that's too bad for Jamie Howarth and Brad Lamb, who are both tied for last place after rounds of 15-over 85. Personally, I would've loved to see a 90, particularly from a former major champion, but maybe that's just me.

In case you're wondering, Lyle was 11 over when he packed it in, and Beem was 12 over. By comparison, Phil Mickelson's 8-over opening nine seems less offensive, and John Daly's 80 is downright impressive. Okay, maybe a tad optimistic on that last one, but Lyle and Beem or not, David Duval and Rocco Mediate get my vote for the rounds of the day.

Still, the biggest loser of the day was TNT. Their coverage -- 6.5 five hours of interviews and commercials and a half-hour of actual golf was worse embarrassing. And not in a good way.