ATLANTA --- Augusta State men's golf coach Josh Gregory will have to wait to see if he makes it to the final round of a U.S. Amateur qualifier today.

Gregory shot 3-over-par 74 on Tuesday during the weather-suspended first round at Piedmont Driving Club and is tied for 23rd place.

He was one of 92 players -- out of the field of 144 -- to complete the first round. The balance of the field will finish this morning, then the top 44 and those within eight shots of the lead will play the final round this afternoon.

The top six players after the 36 holes will advance to the U.S. Amateur on Aug. 18-24 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.

Other area players in the field who completed the first round were Evans' Adam McKenney (73), Augusta State golfer Mitch Krywulycz (77), Evans' Jacob Tilton (78) and Dylan Lyons (80), as well as Shepherd Archie (80) of Augusta.

Augusta's Alex Boyd, Carter Newman, Rob Bennett and Rob McRae will complete their first round this morning.

The other U.S. Amateur qualifier in Georgia will be held Aug. 4-5 at The Standard Club in Duluth.

NOT ALONE: Kenny Perry was the butt of jokes for playing in Milwaukee instead of a major championship, even though he had already wrapped up a spot on the Ryder Cup team. It's not like he was the first American to skip the British Open.

Curtis Strange played the Open only 13 times in his career, missing five starts in the 1980s when he was at the peak of his game. Scott Hoch only played the British Open five times, and he never bothered to learn the names of the courses.

Davis Love III , who considers the Open one of his favorite tournaments, doesn't hold grudges against those who are eligible and don't come.

"Kenny is a great guy. There's nothing bad in his heart," Love said. "He wasn't complaining. He just doesn't want to play."

What bothers Love more are the players who do fly across the Atlantic and start complaining. He didn't mention names, but Pat Perez would have been a candidate for saying the rain and wind in the first round didn't feel like golf.

"Just don't come," Love said. "If you're going to have a bad attitude on Thursday before you tee off because it's raining, then don't come, because you're just wasting your time. It's going to be bad, eventually, one way or another."

TIGER WHO? Tiger Woods missing his first major as a pro didn't keep the fans away from Royal Birkdale. More than 200,000 attended the British Open, which Royal & Ancient officials said was among the top six attendance totals in history.

HARRINGTON DIVOTS: Padraig Harrington opened with 74, the highest start by a British Open champion since Greg Norman 's 74 at Turnberry in 1986.