The Open: As It Happens (2)

3.05pm:

Incredible! Ernie Els takes out his driver on the 420-yard par 4 fifth and - whack! - hits a booming, wind-assisted tee shot through the green. What an astonishing shot. A birdie here will take him back to level.

"If Monty's choice of music was rubbish, let's hope Bernhard Langer never hits the airwaves," opines John Richards. "I read some interview with him recently where he proclaimed his preferred type of listening was 'soft German rock'. Should he have been a footballer? Or do all golfers follow their sporting chums in a liking for dire music?"

3pm:

Well, here's a surprise. Phil Mickelson, who had a shocker in the Scottish Open last week, has found his form after bogeying the first. Three birdies in the next six holes accelerates him to joint second on -2, along with the likes of Davis Love III, Greg Norman and Michael Campbell, who's just dropped a shot.

Meanwhile, my colleague Nick Harper's wife also spotted a celebrity this lunchtime. "Went to Oxford Street to get a new top," she says. "Saw Jo Whiley in M&S, much better looking than you might expect, not so scraggy." When Scott Murray returns from lunch we'll see if we can get the full set...

2.53pm:

More on Monty's injury - it wasn't his back giving him jip, but his hand. Apparently he tripped over on the way to breakfast and jarred his hand. Speaking of which...

"A miserable-looking Colin Montgomerie?" asks a bemused Chris Miners. "You mean even more morose and curmudgeonly than usual? Shouldn't we be issuing a storm warning?" Indeed we should, Chris.

"I've always been prepared to cut Monty some slack - until I heard him on Desert Island Discs," he adds. "Not only was his conversation dull, his choice of records was spectacularly uninspired. A blander collection of MOR pap you couldn't wish to hear - I'm sure it even included Tina Turner and Queen. Reminded me of those footballers' questionnaires in Shoot magazine way back when."

2.46pm:

Bradley Dredge, who my colleague Scott Murray has invested a few pounds at 125-1, is slipping faster than a greased-up Barrymore down the ratings waterchute. He was -2 a couple of holes ago, now he's +2. Meanwhile Nick Faldo has just finished with a 76.

"I seem to recall J Mascis of proto-grunge underachievers Dinosaur Jr is pretty tasty at golf," says Euan Hendrie. "Alice Cooper used to play off about 2, though I think that's slipped lately..."

2.40pm:

Hennie Otto, who's stood atop of the leaderboard for four hours now, has been joined by New Zealander Michael Campbell, who's just birdied the fifth. Meanwhile Rich Beem, who was a HUGE 250-1 on betfair.com yesterday (and yes, I was going to put a bet on it) is a creditable -2 after seven holes.

Meanwhile my colleague Matt Cunningham is back from lunch where he bumped into ex-Elastica guitarist Donna Matthews at a photo lab in Farringdon. (I kid you not). Apparently she was asking directions to the Barbican. Matt's response: "You were always my favourite". Pathetic line, I know - but crazily it seems to have worked: Matt's been invited to her new band's gigs in August. And I thought my lunchtime was rock and roll.

2.35pm:

Not a great start so far from the current tournament favourite Ernie Els. The Big Easy bogeyed the first after thwacking one deep into the rough, and needed a tricky six-footer to save par on the second. Meanwhile Padraig Harrington has just finished with a 75 - four over par.

"Talking of Henry J Rollins I heard Justin Timberlake was there this week and loves the game," says Vic Ardern. "Anyone know the craziest R&R cat with the lowest R&A handicap."

2.30pm:

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. A miserable-looking Colin Montgomerie is on a golfing kart (no sign of it breaking yet, although admittedly it is creaking horribly) going back to the clubhouse. I think his back's gone - and his 131st Open is over. Speaking of Monty, this from David Vayro.

"The Church of England may be split over this kind of thing, but I think it will be many a year before the golfing world is ready to come to terms with the disturbing mental image conjured up by Scott's "bastard love child of Jerry Kelly and David Duval" observation on Monty," he says. "For the sake of etiquette, perhaps Anneka Sorenstam should be in there somewhere (as it were)." Mmm.

2.20pm: Drama in the office as the official scoreboard suddenly shows a new leader - one J Rollins (who may or may not be related to ex-Black Flag singer and Full Metal Challenge presenter, Henry) who moves to -4 with a hole in one at the par-4 12th. But wait! A few seconds later, the scoreboard is corrected to show a par-4 four (his correct score) - and Rollins drops back to -1.

2.10pm: Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the second part of the Guardian's coverage of the 132nd Open. I'm just back from lunch - which, bizarrely, involved a much-nicer-than-expected Jerry Sadowitz showing me magic tricks. Anyone beat that?

Meanwhile, if you've just joined us, catch up with Tiger Woods' opening round here