LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Lee Westwood looked glumly at his ball lodged up against the side of a pot bunker and considered his options. Unfortunately, none of them involved a normal swing in the direction of the hole.

So, he turned around, whacked at the ball lefthanded with a righthanded club, and settled for just getting it back into the fairway.

Yep, another bogey.

Westwood, generally considered the best golfer never to win a major, limped to the finish with a disappointing 3-over-par 73 Thursday in the opening round of the British Open.

What made it even worse was that Royal Lytham & St. Annes was ripe for the taking, the rain largely holding off, the breeze from the Irish Sea barely rippling the flags.

‘‘Just one of those things,’’ he said with a shrug. ‘‘You can’t have great form all the time.’’

Westwood wasn’t the only local favorite to disappoint in a year when the home country had high hopes of snapping a 43-year drought in golf’s oldest major.

Ian Poulter plodded to a 71. Paul Casey collapsed on the back nine and signed for a 72. Justin Rose had a miserable day all around, winding up with a 74. The only Englishmen to shoot in the 60s were former cricket player James Morrison (68) and up-and-comer Matthew Baldwin (69), who actually made a point to get Westwood’s autograph during a practice round — then outplayed him when it counted.

Another crowd pleaser, defending champ Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, joined in the misery. After a near-perfect tee shot on the par-3 opening hole, he struck a terrible putt from about 10 feet that never had a chance. It was pretty much all downhill from there on the way to a 76. Only seven players posted a higher score.

‘‘I don’t think you could publish my thoughts right now,’’ Clarke told reporters when he came off the 18th green.