And so today’s live hole-by-hole report comes to a close. A round of two halves, all right, with the lads out in the morning enjoying decent conditions, the folk out later suffering in extreme rain and wind. But that’s part of the weird attraction of links golf. Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson will have spent the afternoon with their feet on the desk, sucking down big cigars. The smart money is on the cut saving everyone at +4, which will be good news for Bubba, Jordan, Monty and Danny Willett. Enjoy what’s left of your Friday, and please join me tomorrow for Moving Day!
-10: Mickelson
-9: Stenson
-7: Kjeldsen, Bradley
-5: Z Johnson
-4: Finau, Haas, Schwartzel, Johnston, Garcia
Updated
Hideki Matsuyama ends a dismal round by thinning a chip out of a bunker straight across the green. Two putts from off the other side, and that’s a bogey; he signs for a 78. At +8, he’ll not be here this weekend. Bubba almost certainly will, though! He knocks in his birdie putt, and though he’s signing for a 76, he should scrape under the cut at +4. Rory takes a two-putt par, and he signs for 71. It’s decent in the circumstances - he’s -2 overall, and not out of this - but how he’ll rue those two missed short putts at 9 and 10. His situation would look so much brighter had those tiddlers gone in.
McIlroy doesn’t make true contact with his driver up 18, but it lands in prime position on the right-hand side of the fairway nonetheless. Bubba sends his ball into similar territory, then arrows a delightful approach straight at the flag. He’ll have a six-footer to save himself! Rory fires his at the pin too, but appears to have taken one club too many.. He’s at the back of the big green, facing a long two putts for his par.
What a putt by Willett on the last! Having chipped out of the fairway bunker, he sends his third pin high to 15 feet, then knocks in a gentle left-to-right slider for a par that keeps him at +4 - and ensures his participation this weekend! Not everyone will be cursing the weather: it’s been swings and roundabouts for the Masters champ. A par meanwhile for Jason Day, and his one-under 70 means he reaches the halfway mark at +1. And finally there’s Rickie Fowler, who makes it three pars out of three, and his scrapping 72 puts him at -1, nine shots shy of Phil Mickelson’s leading mark.
Updated
Bubba lags it up. But lagging it up isn’t good enough. That’s a bogey, dropping him back to +5. Rory very nearly drains his birdie effort, but it stays out on the right. So close. He taps in and remains at -2. He looks a lot happier now. Despite it all, he’s still in with a chance of winning this tournament, even if he has a lot to do now. Hideki Matsuyama has had a dreadful day, incidentally: a birdie at 5 followed by bogeys at 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16 and now 17. He’s +7 and definitely going home.
Steve Stricker pars 18. It’s his 17th par of the round. The other hole: that quadruple bogey at 15. Has there ever been a card like it in major championship history? What a 75. He’s level par overall, and more than anyone out there has cause to curse the storm. Meanwhile Bubba hooks a godawful tee shot into 17, the ball disappearing behind the grandstand to the back right of the green. He lobs back into the heart of the putting surface, but he’ll have a 30-foot tester if he wants to stay at cut-bodyswerving +4.
Rory has relocated his gameface. A long iron into the heart of the tricky par-three 17th, and he’ll have a look at birdie from 20 feet. Meanwhile up on 18, Danny Willett needs a par to make sure of his participation this weekend. So he doesn’t want to be sending it into the bunker on the left of the fairway. He’ll have to take his medicine and chip out, then hope to get up and down from distance.
A birdie! A birdie! Rory curls in a 20-footer from the back of the 16th, and he moves back to -2. Bubba knocks in a par saver of similar distance. It might be no coincidence that the wind has totally dropped. Some ecosystem around Troon. Up on 17, it’s pars for Willett (+4), Day (+1) and Fowler (-1).
A dropped shot for Jason Day at 16, his par putt sliding by the right of the hole. He’s +1. A birdie for Danny Willett, though, and he moves back up to +4. That could be a very important putt for the Masters champion, because the projected cut line has moved out, saving everyone at +4. Granted a reprieve (as things stand): Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomerie, Jim Furyk, Paul Lawrie, Brandt Snedeker and Jordan Spieth. Also at +4 and saved, providing they don’t drop any more strokes: Willett and Bubba.
Justin Rose has had a very strange round. He’s four over through 17, but all the damage was done before the poor weather: he was out in 40. Since then, pars all the way. But having battled so hard for so long, it’s going wrong at the last. He buries his head in his hands as his drive is swallowed up by a fairway bunker. He’s forced to chip out, and then sends his third into the deep, wet bunker front left of the green. This is a miserable end. He bounces his ball out to eight feet, a fine, fighting response. But he doesn’t hit his bogey putt, which dies off to the left. A 77, and he’s +3. Spieth meanwhile finishes with a solid par. His 75 has him at +4. He’s almost certainly going to make the cut, though he probably won’t have realised that yet.
Updated
Fowler can’t make his putt at 15. He drops back to -1. His partner Jason Day meanwhile is demonstrating his street-fighting skills: just the one bogey since the weather turned, at 12, the rest of the back nine pars. He stays at level par. And the weather seems to be easing off a tad. It’s still windy and rainy, but hey, it’s all relative.
We haven’t had a leaderboard for a while. Well, there’s a reason for that. But here’s what it looks like now. It’s what it’s going to look like at the end of the day, too.
-10: Mickelson (F)
-9: Stenson (F)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Bradley (F)
-5: Z Johnson (F)
-4: Finau (F), Haas (F), Schwartzel (F), Johnston (F), Garcia (F)
-3: Na (F), Kuchar (F), Kaymer (F), Cabrera-Bello (F)
The highest-placed player out on the course right now is Rickie Fowler at -2. And if he doesn’t rake home a long putt from the front of 15, he’ll be sharing that status with Rory McIlroy and Richard Sterne at -1. It’s fair to say those out late yesterday and early today got the best of the draw. Hey, it’s part of the Open Championship’s unique charm.
Spieth finds the heart of 16 in regulation. His long birdie putt stays wide left, and he very nearly misses the four-footer he leaves himself, but the left lip swallows it up. He’s still at +4, and even if he can only par home, he might survive if enough players out there drop shots. A scenario which, in this weather, is far from a pipe dream. Meanwhile Stricker ends up with a quadruple-bogey 8 on 15 after all those pars. Somewhere, Paul Azinger is wondering why something like that couldn’t have happened to Nick Faldo at Muirfield in 1987.
A brilliant tee shot into the par-three 14th from Bubba, a draw helped to six feet by the wind. He knocks it in for a birdie that takes him back to +4 and keeps his hopes of weekend participation alive. If he harbours those hopes, of course. I’m assuming nothing. McIlroy finds the front of the green, meanwhile, and takes two putts for a rare par. He’s still -1.
Steve Stricker isn’t going to par his way home, Nick Faldo style. He carded 14 in a row, but sent his tee shot, then a provisional, then another provisional into the thick rough down the right of the long par-four 15th. After a long search, he eventually found his second ball, so was chipping back out on to the fairway for four. More as we have it.
Another dropped shot for McIlroy, his fourth bogey in five holes. He’s in the thick of the weather, just as he was when shooting 80 on the second day of the 2010 Open. He might have drawn the short straw a year later at Sandwich, too, if memory serves. This time he hits a heavy chip into 13, expecting strong wind to hold it up, only for that very wind to drop. He’s -1, and looks to have mentally checked out. In some ways, you can’t blame him: the conditions put the rating X into extreme. On the other hand, Rickie Fowler is battling hard in the face of adversity: pars at 13 and 14 since his dropped shot at 12, and he stays at -2.
A clumsy pitch into 15 has cost Jordan Spieth another shot. He’s back to +4, just the wrong side of the projected cut. The weather is utterly filthy, though, so with plenty of players still out there, providing he doesn’t suffer too much himself, he might survive. That’s a big if, though. He hoicks his tee shot at 16 into the thick rough down the left. He had been expecting help from a crosswind, but he got nothing. “Aw come on! If I hit that shot on the last hole, it’d have ended up on the road!” He grins at the absurdity of it all, taking it in good spirits. The wind is ludicrous, to be fair, oscillating between 20mph and 30mph at the drop of a hat. Can you hear that warm crackle? That’s Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson, drawing on their cigars.
Rory in a greenside bunker at 12. He can only just get his ball out of the wet sand, leaving himself too much to do with the par putt. He’s back to -2, and the wheels of his challenge are beginning to clank off. He was within five strokes of Mickelson less than an hour ago. The weather is awful, but that wasn’t a factor for his first two bogeys of the day.
Steve Stricker is on a run. Of pars. He’s now made it 14 in a row by tickling one in from ten feet. He stays at -4. On the other end of the scale, here’s Louis Oosthuizen. He started the day at level par. He’s now +12. What’s mainly happened there is a nine at the Railway hole. Yesterday’s hole in one seems an awfully long time ago now. Meanwhile an interview on Sky with the extremely modest and likeable Zach Johnson. They’ve just pointed out that the only other men who have won the Masters and an Open at St Andrews are Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Seve, Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead. That’s pretty astonishing company to be keeping, and Johnson’s voice cracked as he admitted: “I’m speechless. How can you not be in awe?”
Updated
The weather’s getting up, and it’s pretty dark at the moment. The Open. Summer in Scotland. Right here. Day and Fowler are both unable to scramble pars after missing 12 in regulation. They’re back to level par and -2 respectively.
Spieth starts his comeback quest in magnificent fashion, sending his tee shot at 14 to six feet. In goes the birdie putt, and he’s +3. The old (ahem) Jordan Spieth is back! Rory, from the centre of 11, sends a marvellous second into the middle of the green. He’ll have a look at repairing some of the damage of 9 and 10 from 18 feet. But it slides by to the right and he’ll have to settle for par. But he’s steadied the ship a little, if nothing else. But it’s a double bogey for Bubba, who drops to +4. Meanwhile Patrick Reed responded to bogeys at 8, 10, 11, 15 and 16 with a big rake for birdie across 17. He’s very close to curling in a 30-footer on 18, too, but he’ll settle for par. A 74 today, and he’s -2 at the halfway mark.
Updated
Spieth very nearly holes a 25-footer across 13 for a much-needed birdie. But it stays on the high side. Holes are running out if he wants to save himself. A couple of birdies should do it. One, possibly, if the weather that’s coming in - higher winds and rain - has any sort of effect.
Rory is unravelling. He plays 10 straight down the middle. Pin high, 25 feet away, he races his birdie effort three feet past. And he pushes the par putt wide right. That’s two super-short ones missed in a row, and it’s back-to-back bogeys. He stomps off the green moaning quite a lot. He’s back to -3, and needs to calm down. He’s jittery and fuming, which is not a good combo. Mind you, there’s problems, and there are problems. Bubba had missed a short one at 10 too, and at +2 he’s skirting with the cut. (That’s moved out to +3, by the way.) And now the big-driving lefty has hoicked his drive at 11 onto the railway track. He’s in trouble now. Rory splits the fairway.
Spieth is extremely fortunate not to lose his drive in a gorse bush down the left of 12. He’s flaying the ball off the tee box like Seve. It’s a heavy lie, though, and he shouts in response to a stab of pain in his wrist as he punches back onto the fairway. He punches his third in low, hoping to send it scampering towards the hole. But it stops 30 feet short, and his attempt to salvage the situation with his putter is always dying left. Another bogey, and the 2015 Masters and US Open champion is in serious trouble now at +4.
Fowler sends a wild one towards the 10th green, up a bank to the left, and can’t get up and down. He’s back to -3. Day pars to stay at -1. Byeong Hun An is a dimple away from knocking in a short eagle putt on 16, but a birdie seems scant reward for knocking his second at the par-five to six feet. Meanwhile arguably the shot of the day from the 2011 champion Darren Clarke, who is wide of the 18th fairway, and sends his second from 150 yards bouncing straight towards the hole, stopping six inches short. The birdie brings him to +1, and ensures he’ll be here for the weekend!
Rory reaches the middle of the big 9th green in two. He lags up to a couple of feet, then inexcusably misses the par putt. That’s another costly loss of concentration. He wanders off with black plumes of steam coming out of both lugs: with 10 and 11 coming up, the last thing you want is to be shedding silly shots. He’s back to -4. He skelps a 3-wood down the track at 10, a fine, if rather frustrated, response.
Spieth finds the centre of 11 with his second, but his mid-range birdie putt dies to the left. It’s not a bad miss, but he reacts as though he’s just missed a tiddler. Nothing wrong with having high standards, for sure, but he’ll give himself high blood pressure at this rate. He stays at +3. Meanwhile Byeong Hun An is going well: par through the front nine, but birdies at 11 and 14. He’s -3 overall. Scott Hend’s charge has slowed a tad, incidentally: a bogey at 8 was followed by a double at 10, and though he’s just picked one up again at 12, he’s down the leaderboard a bit now at -2.
Par for Day on 9, and he’s reached the turn in 33. He’s -1, and walking with a spring in his step. He knows he’s not out of this yet. Rickie Fowler follows him in, and he turns in 34, at -4. He’s very much in position. But Patrick Reed continues to move in the wrong direction. Another bogey, this time at 15, and he’s three over for his round, -2 overall. His compatriot Billy Horschel has doubled 7 to drop to -2. But Steve Stricker has reached the turn in a Faldoesque 36, nine pars, and the veteran grinder is hanging on in there at -4.
Spieth’s struggles continue. He’s all over the place, a strange mix of nonsense and brilliance. He drives into the thick rubbish down the right of 10, and sends his second down the huge bank to the right of the green. But from a tight lie, he chips up close, and for a second hole in a row, scrambles an unlikely par. “He’s not totally switched on,” says the Sky pundit Nick Faldo. But he’s not giving up, either, despite being the wrong side of the cut line at +3. He sends his drive at 11 whistling worryingly to the right, but it takes a kind bounce in the semi-rough and makes its way onto the fairway. Could that little break send his round in a different direction too?
So Rory, having reached the upper echelons of the leaderboard, plops his ball in the Coffin bunker at the Postage Stamp. Danger ahoy! But he clips the ball so gently off the wet sand, landing it on the edge of the green and letting the down slope do the work. The ball rolls to three feet, and that’s a great par save. Not quite as spectacular as Bubba’s scramble: he’s in the Spieth Bunker on the other side, and instead of taking a couple to get out, he swishes serenely under the ball, sending it smoothly bouncing towards the hole and pinging off the flagstick. It should drop in for birdie, but he’ll not complain about the par.
Updated
Forgot to mention that Danny Willett also birdied 7 while Day and Fowler were about their business. Not that it matters too much, because he plugged his ball in the bunker to the right of the Postage Stamp, and after taking a couple to find the green, two-putted for a double bogey. The Masters champion is +3 now, and in all sorts of cut-related bother. 2016’s not going to be his year for Open glory, but he’ll always have that verdant sports jacket. Meanwhile it’s back-to-back birdies for McIlroy! He chips up from the edge of 7 to six feet. Not ideal, as he leaves himself a snaky slider, but he thinks long and hard before knocking it in. Look at this leaderboard now!
-10: Mickelson (F)
-9: Stenson (F)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Bradley (F)
-5: Z Johnson (F), McIlroy (7)
This is heating up again nicely, after a bit of a lull. Rory and Bubba nearly drive the green at the par-four 7th. On the putting surface, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler drain birdie putts while smiling quite a lot. They’re enjoying themselves, and no wonder: that’s three birdies in a row for Day, who is -1 overall, and it’s the second birdie of the round for the links student Fowler, who is as high as -4 now.
Jordan Spieth might be struggling a little this week, but he wasn’t a two-time major winner at the age of 21 for nothing. He’s just wanged a hilariously poor second shot towards the 9th green. Or more specifically up a bank to the left. But from the tightest of spots, he’s bumped a pitch down to a couple of feet, and he’ll escape with a much-needed ship-steadying par. A class act, even if Troon’s not been his best pal this week. He’s out in 39, +3 overall. Bogey for Rose, though, and he’s reached the turn in 40. He’s +1, and it’s been a painful couple of hours for Hampshire’s finest. Meanwhile back on 6, McIlroy makes a very steady bogey. Drive up the middle, fairway wood up the middle, chip into the heart of the green, 15 footer into the cup. Easy as that. He’s suddenly in a competitive position at -4!
Jason Day might be struggling a little this week, but he isn’t world number one for nothing. The PGA champion is on the front fringe of the par-five 6th in three, facing a long snaking putt up the green. It’s always going in, from the second it left his putter. A magic moment, and one that might kick-start a move up the leaderboard. He’s level par now, and that’s his third birdie in the last four holes. Meanwhile the man who started this whole thing off - Colin Montgomerie - has just bogeyed the last hole and will sign for a 75. He ends his tournament at +4, and will spend the weekend in the commentary box. His loss is our gain; he’s a great pundit. And that’s because of, rather than despite, his eccentricities. Good old Monty.
Disaster for Spieth on the Postage Stamp. He splashes out of the sand on the right, over the high face, but can only land his ball on the slope that gathers the ball back towards the same grainy trouble. He’s got more space to escape with his second attempt, firing the ball towards the Coffin on the other side, but using the slope in front of that trap to guide the ball back towards the target. He’s still got a ten-footer for bogey, mind. Even if he gets this, he’s below the projected cut line. Well, he can’t make it. It’s his first double bogey of the week, and he’s in a bit of bother now at +3.
Updated
Rory bumps a chip up to six feet from the front of 5, and once again scrambles his par. His partners? Matsuyama, having found the green front left, rolls in for a much-needed birdie: he’s level par again. But Bubba can only slash out from the bunker into the middle of the green. He can’t roll the 15-foot par saver, and after birdie at 4, he’s back to +1 again. Meanwhile Spieth’s bump up to 7 isn’t all that, but he rattles in a staunch par putt. He stays at +1, though for how long? On the Postage Stamp, he sends his tee shot to the right and into the deep bunker. He’s found an awful lot of sand today.
On 7, there’s more trouble for Spieth, who drives into filth down the right. He can only hack it back out to the fairway, short of the green. He’ll need a crisp chip and putt to save his par. Meanwhile on the par-three 5th, Bubba sends his tee shot into a bunker to the left, and starts effin’ and jeffin’ in the grand style. More in resignation than exasperation, mind you. He’s giving off the air of a man who can’t be bothered any more. Maybe he can’t be bothered any more. Then Rory steps up, and lands his tee shot 30 yards short of the green! Some of the biggest names in world golf are all over the shop right now.
McIlroy narrows his eyes and chips up to four feet. That’s going to save his skin on this hole. A par, and he remains at -3. Rickie Fowler has followed up his opening birdie with four pars; he stays at -3 too. Jason Day picks up another stroke with a birdie two at 5; he’s now got his head above the projected cut line at +1. Meanwhile the Masters champion Danny Willett completes a trio of pars in that marquee group, though having bogeyed 1 and 4, he’s struggling at +2.
A lot of addled heads right now. Rory is standing in the middle of the 4th fairway, in prime position. He’s irritated by having to wait for a marshal to rake a bunker. Rattled, he slices a fairway wood into thick filth down the right. That’ll be a test of mettle. If they can find the ball. Ah yes, they can. But he can only punch back out on to the fairway. He’ll need to get up and down from 50 yards if he’s to save par. Meanwhile up on 6, Spieth splashes out from the bunker to five feet, not a bad result at all, but he’s shaking his head in irritation. Clearly he’s not trusting himself to tidy up. And he’d be right: a meek prod to the right of the hole, and he’s back to +1 again. Patrick Reed has dropped another one, this time at 10, to slip back into the big pack at -4. He’s joined there by the altogether happier Scott Hend, for the 42-year-old Australian journeyman is heading in the other direction, and at some speed: birdies at 1, 3, 4 and now 6. What a run!
Bubba isn’t in the best of moods, a legacy of that dreadful tiddler he missed on the opening hole no doubt. He’s dropped another shot, this time at 3, so he’s +1 and in danger of missing the cut if he’s not careful. Sky Sports just tracked the flight of his drive on 4, and the wind is playing havoc with his big boomers. Imagine the top of a treble clef. Well, that. Jordan Spieth is also out of sorts: hitting what looks like a simple wedge into the par-five 6th, he chunks it in a bunker well short of the green. He turns to give his caddy an incredulous look: this sort of thing just doesn’t happen to him. He seemed happy enough with his long game yesterday, blaming his relatively poor score on his putter. Well, it’s been a mixed bag at best today.
Updated
Rory split the fairway at 3. He should have gone close with his wedge in, but could only find the back of the green, a careless mistake. He still wasn’t too far away from draining the long putt coming back, but the birdie effort didn’t drop. He stays at -3. Patrick Reed has reached the turn in a fairly uneventful 36 strokes: one birdie, one bogey. A marked contrast to yesterday’s 31, but then feel that wind tickling your collar. There hasn’t been much movement at the top of the leaderboard, then. But let’s remind ourselves where we are:
-10: Mickelson (F)
-9: Stenson (F)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Bradley (F)
-5: Z Johnson (F), Reed (9)
Open competitors have responded to last night’s atrocity in Nice. Ewan Murray reports.
It’s been a disastrous start for Justin Rose. He missed a short par putt on the opening hole, and now a double at the 4th - another short one prodded past the hole with great uncertainty - has him more worried about the cut than the lead. Already three over for his round, he’s clanked back down to level par. Louis Oosthuizen has bogeyed 6 to drop to +1. The world number one Jason Day bogeyed the opening hole, but he’s bounced back with birdie at 3, though at +2 he needs a couple more if he’s to be here at the weekend for sure. And Jordan Spieth pulls an appalling tee shot into one of the bunkers front left of the par-three 5th. A lot of big names with furrowed brows right now.
McIlroy will have annoyed himself by missing that good birdie chance on 1, but he doesn’t need to force things. At 2, and with the wind up, he opts to find the centre of the green instead of going for the flag, and let his putter do the work. Wise move: he rolls a straight 25-footer into the cup, one of those that was always going in from the moment it left the face of the club. He’s -3. Jordan Spieth will be back to level par after a cute chip over bunkers that screeched to a halt a couple of feet by the flag at the par-five 4th. But Patrick Reed found the bunker to the right of the Postage Stamp, and that’s a bogey that brings him back down to -5.
Thanks Niall. So while Bubba’s astonishing twitchy miss on the opening hole was somehow predictable - he didn’t look comfortable over it, and was up and out of the stroke almost before he made contact - Jordan Spieth’s miss on 3 is a little more shocking. From the centre of the fairway, he’d clipped his second to five feet, and a birdie seemed on the cards. But it lipped out. Can you remember him missing anything from within, I dunno, 15 feet during 2015? No, me neither. But this is happening quite regularly at the moment. He doesn’t quite have the same certainty. I guess that’s what blowing up at Augusta does to a man. He stays at +1, which is only a shot above the projected cut, so he’ll need to watch himself here. Other pre-tournament favourites currently flirting with danger: Danny Willett, Hideki Matsuyama and Branden Grace. This will be a very interesting afternoon.
Updated
The wind picking up all over the course now, which will be of particular concern to the thoroughbreds heading along the coast-hugging front nine. Patrick Reed has been Mr Consistent so far – five pars and one birdie in his opening six. Fowler birdies the first after an excellent approach shot, and McIlroy, playing into the wind, follows suit. He lands his second shot on the front edge of the green, within range of the pin. It’s a presentable chance that McIlroy ends up pushing wide. He’ll settle for par, while Watson drops a shot with a stinker of a short par putt.
-10: Mickelson (F)
-9: Stenson (F)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Bradley (F)
-6: Reed (6)
Time to hand back to your very own Scott Murray...
Updated
With the wind whistling across the 18th, García and Bradley finish off their rounds. Sergio undercooks his putt, apparently not taking the wind into account at all – and gets himself in an awful mess, three-putting to pick up a bogey, and drop back to four under par. Oh, Sergio... Meanwhile, Bradley pars to finish three under for the day, seven under for the week, and very much in contention.
Fowler, Day and Masters champ Danny Willett are teeing off at the 1st. Fowler begins two under, Willett even par, and Day two over, close to the projected cut. Plenty of time though. At the second, Spieth again misjudges his approach to the green, picking out a tricky bunker – but rescues the situation with an expert chip out of trouble. Lowry lands back-to-back birdies in his bid to make the cut – the Irishman is up to five over par.
Henrik Stenson reflects on his round of 65 – the best of the day so far, and it’ll take some beating...
“You can play some pretty stuff, and I turned my chances into birdies. The rain and wind were buffeting us early on, and the weather could be worse this afternoon, so I’m happy with my round.”
Another superb putt from García, rolling to within a foot through a hefty downwind on the 17th green, while Bradley pars to keep himself just three off the lead. Spieth’s chip out of the rough wanders 20 feet left of the pin; it’s been an inauspicious start for the world No3, who picks up a bogey. Much better from Shane Lowry, who birdies the 1st and has already matched his birdie total from yesterday.
Sergio tucks away another birdie at the 16th, and he joins Reed and Zach Johnson in a tie for fifth place. One of the men above them, Keegan Bradley, has two birdies and two bogeys in a shaky back nine so far. Spieth, accompanied by Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, has started his round, but sends his second shot beyond the green, all the way over the railings where spectators are standings. After a chat with course officials, Spieth takes a drop on the other side of the fence.
Updated
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy is out on the driving range; he gets under way in half an hour. Five of the world’s top six are due to tee off in the next hour, with Jordan Spieth starting now, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day at 2.26pm, and Bubba Watson alongside McIlroy at 2.37pm.
Updated
Stenson finishes nine under par, one shot behind Mickelson. At the 18th, Stenson sets up a long-range birdie chance. He’s been putting immaculately, and he gets his left-to-right effort as close as one could reasonably expect, and taps home the par putt to card a brilliant 65. Zach Johnson drops a shot to complete a disappointing end to his round, and the defending champion is five under.
-10: Mickelson (F)
-9: Stenson (F)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Bradley (15)
-5: Z Johnson (F), Reed (3)
There was a brief interlude while that camera, stationed above the 8th, was retrieved and extinguished safely. Someone very much not on fire is Martin Kaymer, who finished the day three under par; not bad, but given he was seven under after the front nine, he’ll be disappointed. The triple bogey at the 10th did the damage.
One of the high-wire cameras which takes aerial shots has, regrettably, gone on fire...
Stenson and Johnson tee off on the 17th, the longest par-three on the course. Stenson’s tee shot isn’t the cleanest, but finds the green, while Johnson picks out a bunker but again retrieves the situation with a tidy approach. Stenson two-putts to stay on nine under. In other Johnson news, Dustin has drained three birdies in a row, the US Open champion recovering to finish two under. Back at the start, the last two groups to get under way feature three former champions – Paul Lawrie (1999), Padraig Harrington (2007, 2008) and Luis Oosthuizen (2010).
Stenson moves one shot off the lead! He did end up in one of those tight bunkers to the right of the green, but played out exquisitely – coming within an inch of holing his third shot, and setting up a routine birdie chance. He tucks it away for his seventh birdie of the day, while Zach Johnson stays on six under after rescuing par. Even Sergio García is enjoying himself on these silky greens – his birdie putt on the 14th green darts straight for home from 20 feet out.
Updated
Thanks, Scott. Let’s head straight to the 16th, where Stenson played an iron off the tee, then a three wood to clip his approach shot onto the green – but it drifts towards the bunkers on the right. At the first, Patrick Reed, who begins on five under, has a birdie chance that wobbles across the green, but is always rolling just left of the cup.
Mickelson can’t knock in the long birdie putt. But he’s tapping in for a par and a 69 that perhaps could have been a little better. He’s got a two-shot lead as he goes in to dry off, though whether that’ll still be in existence come the end of the day is a moot point. Much depends on what Henrik Stenson does in the next 45 minutes or so. Stenson’s just parred 15 to remain two behind, while Zach Johnson, having driven into a fairway bunker, dropped a shot to slip four off the pace. Taking you through the next hour, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Niall McVeigh!
A bit of trouble for Keegan Bradley, who pushes his approach to 12 well right. He responds with an understated HMM! that’s pure Oliver Hardy. He overhits the chip up onto the green by some distance, then underhits the putt coming back. That’s back-to-back bogeys for Bradley, who is now -5. His partner Sergio Garcia wears the confused look synonymous with Stan Laurel as a short par putt slides past the right lip. He’s back to -3. A Ford Model T then runs over his toes, while 100 bricks fall on Bradley’s head. Another fine mess. Meanwhile on 18, Phil Mickelson eases an 8-iron into the heart of the green, and he’ll have a look at birdie from 25 feet or so.
Mickelson tidies up on 17 to maintain his two-shot lead. Though it’d have only been one had Stenson hit his putt from the back of the par-three 14th. Par, and the Swede stays in second at -8. Zach Johnson nearly knocks in a 20-footer on the same hole to join him, but remains in a tie for third with the clubhouse leader Kjeldsen at -7. Meanwhile up on 18, Matt Kuchar pars to sign for a 68, -3 overall, while Andrew Johnston nearly splashes out from a bunker for birdie, but settles for par and a 69. Beef, the winner of this year’s Spanish Open, is very handily placed at -4.
Mickelson doesn’t have much space in this bunker, either to stand, or to swing his club back. He’s got to take his club up and down almost vertically, then get the ball over a steep face. Mere mortals would either admit defeat, playing out sideways, or have a go and leave the ball in. But this is Phil, who kisses the ball off the surface of the wet sand and clips it to four feet. That is the other side of astonishing. Sheer genius. How did he get that out, never mind close? So if he misses the putt, he wants clipping round the ear with his own sand wedge.
Mickelson sends his tee shot at 17 into the bunker guarding the front left of the green. Meanwhile up on 13, Zach Johnson records his fifth birdie of the day to move back to -7. His playing partner Henrik Stenson follows him in with a fairly straight putt from 15 feet. He’s -8, just two off the lead. And with Mickelson in a deep bunker full of wet sand, the top of the leaderboard could look very interesting in a few minutes.
Mickelson plays the par-five 16th straight down the middle. But his wedge into the green is a bit fat, and he leaves himself a 30-footer from Beef Country. He can’t drain it like Johnston, leaving himself four feet coming back. It’s missable, but he strokes it straight into the centre of the cup. Soaked through, he looks like a man who just wants to get to the clubhouse and be done with it. His earlier fire is most certainly extinguished. Two more holes, Phil, just two more holes. Speaking of Beef, it’s another birdie for the big man, this time on 17, and he’s nicely placed at -4.
Charl Schwartzel sent his drive at 18 towards the grandstand down the right. He whistled his second up the same side of the hole. Left facing bunkers and not much green to work with, he lobbed his ball brilliantly to four feet, saving par and signing for a wonderful 66. He’s -4 and very much a feature of this tournament, especially if Mickelson falters. A birdie at the last for his playing partner Kevin Na, who signs for a 69; he’s -3 overall. And a great up-and-down from a bank to the side of 10 for Sergio; his par save keeps him at -4.
A strong finish by Bill Haas: birdies at 16 and 17, and he’s signed for a 70. Added to his 68 yesterday, and he’s in a decent position at -4. Francesco Moliinari won’t be quite as happy with the end of his round; back in 36 and he’s signing for a level-par 71, -2 overall at the halfway mark. But Andrew Johnston has just rolled a 40-footer into the cup at 16. Back-to-back birdies for Beef, going some way to repairing a triple at 12. He doffs his cap ostentatiously in celebration of getting back to -3.
Mickelson chips up to ten feet on 15, but he’s up on his putt and trudging after it the moment he makes the stroke. He went 29 holes without dropping a shot, and now that’s two bogeys in four. He’s dropped back to -10. His lead is only three.
-10: Mickelson (15)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Stenson (11), Bradley (9)
-6: Z Johnson (11)
-5: Reed
Phil is getting a little ragged in this filthy weather. He whips his tee shot at the long par-four 15th into extremely dismal nonsense down the left. He can only thrash back out onto the fairway, so will need to get up and down from distance if he’s not to hand the shot he’s just picked up straight back to the field. Sergio meanwhile reaches the turn in 35 after very nearly steering home a right-to-left curler for birdie on 9. His playing partner Keegan Bradley pars, and he’s out in 33, sittting very nicely at -7. Slipping back from joint second is Zach Johnson, who bogeys 11, always chasing his score after finding the rough down the right with his drive. As for his partners? Adam Scott makes it back-to-back bogeys having driven up against the wall by the train track; he’s back to level par. Henrik Stenson is very happy with an up and down from the bank to the left. He stays at -7. This is getting extremely interesting.
Yep, another bogey for Kaymer, who can’t knock in his par saver. Troon’s hardest two holes have done a real number on the two-time major winner: he’s back to -3. Par for Schwartzel on the par-five 16th meanwhile, but it’s a good one, up and down from a quagmire at the back of the green. But what luck for Mickelson on the par-three 14th! His tee shot looks to be disappearing into a bunker front left, but it takes a bounce to the right off the shoulder, and he then knocks in the 20-footer he’s left with! Birdie robbery! He’s restored his four-shot lead at -11! And to be fair, he deserves a little something after the way his putt for 62 stayed out yesterday. Meanwhile par for Soren Kjeldsen at the last. He signs for a no-bogey 68, and he’s in the clubhouse, four off the lead, out of the rain, smothered in warm towels. Lovely!
-11: Mickelson (14)
-7: Kjeldsen (F), Z Johnson (10), Stenson (10), Bradley (8)
-5: Reed
Kjeldsen missed a short birdie putt on 16, and makes up for it by racing an excitable one straight across 17 and into the cup. That would be halfway to Glasgow had the hole not got in the way. His cheery smile reflects his luck. He’s up to -7. As is Stenson, who responds to his dropped shot at 9 by firing his second straight at the 10th flag, and rolling in the four-footer he left himself. Neither Sergio nor Bradley can make their birdie putts at 8. A steady par for Mickelson at 13. And in these miserable conditions, Kaymer is falling apart like a cake left out in the rain: his bump up from the back of 11 reaches the putting surface, but he was spooked by the flyer he had on the previous hole, and he’s left this one 12 feet short. Oh nooooooooo!
Updated
Keegan Bradley is inches away from disaster on the Postage Stamp. His tee shot thinks about slam-dunking into the Coffin bunker on the left, but just about stays out, and then rolls down towards the pin, leaving him with a very gettable birdie putt! Sergio aims straight for the flag, but he’s 20 feet short. Not bad, not great. And Martin Kaymer’s nerves haven’t settled: a perfect drive down 11, but he’s sent a flyer through the back of the green with his second, and he’ll be faced with another bump up a bank. The last thing he needs after taking five around the 10th green.
Kaymer’s misery continues. In thick rough to the left of the green at 10, he duffs his chip, can’t hole the putt he leaves himself from the fringe, and that’s a triple-bogey seven. A par there, and he’d have been three off the lead. It unravels quickly. Meanwhile Bradley’s second at 7 ends up eight feet behind the flag, and he teases in a putt with a huge right-to-left curl for his birdie.
-10: Mickelson (12)
-7: Z Johnson (9), Bradley (7)
-6: Kjeldsen (16), Stenson (9)
-5: Reed
-4: Finau (F), Schwartzel (15), Kaymer (10), Garcia (7), Thomas, Stricker, Horschel
Mickelson chose a good time to drop a shot. Kaymer is in all sorts of trouble on 10, while Stenson couldn’t get up and down from the side of 9, and drops back to -6. Zach Johnson nearly drains his birdie effort, which would have been deserved reward for his smart bump and run, but par will do. And a little news of your pal and mine, Mr Sergio, who started with a run of nondescript pars, but has just birdied 6 to move to -4.
Mickelson is faced with a snaky putt up the 12th green. He gives it a good run, but he can’t make it, and that’s his first bogey of the week. He’s back to -10. Trouble for Kaymer, meanwhile, who is down the bank to the right of 10, and fluffs his chip up onto the green. It comes back down to the bottom of the swale. He reloads, and sends a hot flyer straight up the bank, though the green, and into the thick stuff on the other side. This is approaching meltdown territory. That’s not going to be an easy up and down from there by any means, and he’s already taken his regulation four shots.
A wondrous shot in the old-school Scottish style from Zach Johnson on 9. He’s driven into tight stuff down the left, so chooses substance over style, taking his hybrid out and punching it up the fairway, using the camber of the hole to guide the ball into the green. It scampers up to 15 feet. That’s so clever. His partners Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson are both in the middle of the fairway, but their high irons are nowhere close, caught up in the wind. Links golf, folks. Meanwhile it is trouble for Mickelson on 12. He’s got a half-decent lie out to the right, but wangs his second into the spectators down the left, and his wedge into the green for three screeches a good 25 feet short of the hole. He starts bollocking the television camera operative following him down the fairway. He knows his lead, five shots a few minutes ago, could only be three soon.
“Fore right!” Having negotiated the hardest two holes on the course in par, Mickelson pulls his tee shot at 12 into rugged trouble down the right. He’s in the lap of the gods there. He’s yet to drop a shot this week, but if he could take a par now, you’d not see him for dust. He might even settle for a bogey. Meanwhile Charl Schwartzel is back on his game. Having reached the turn in 31, he dropped shots at 10 and 12, but now he’s responded with birdies at 13 and 14, the latest the result of a mammoth rake which earned his new putter a sloppy kiss. There’s nice. He’s -4 overall. And a word on Tony Finau, who struggled on the front nine, out in 38. He came back in 33, with birdies at 11 and 17, and he’s signing for a 71, back where he started at -4. Impressive stuff from the young American.
In fact, Mickelson should probably make his birdie on 11. It’s a simple enough putt from 12 feet with a gentle left-to-right kink, but it’s never going in, a strangely timid effort from Lefty, who has been rattling most of them into the back of the cup. Maybe the rain is an issue. He taps in for par, and he’s still -11. Meanwhile on 8, Zach licks the Postage Stamp, pitching his tee shot to 12 feet and rolling in the putt. He’s -7, as is Martin Kaymer, who has putted in from down the right-hand bank of 9 to reach the turn in 34.
Mickelson is making everything look so easy at the moment. The Railway hole is quite the poser, but he nervelessly batters his drive over the hillock that obscures the fairway along a perfect line, his ball landing plum centre. He then belts his second into the heart of the green, where he’ll be left with a 12-footer for birdie. Most players are looking just to escape with pars from this hole. Even a bogey usually elicits little more than a shrug from most professionals. But he’s just serenely swanned up it, whistling, twirling a cane. I hope I’m not tempting fate into a daft three-putt.
Updated
Another birdie for Henrik Stenson, who is on a charge. A 20-footer across 7 brings him to -7; he’s in second spot on his own. That’s four birdies in five holes, and he looks a lot calmer and happier than yesterday when, despite shooting a very impressive 68, he had a face on for most of his round. He’s just four off the lead: could this be the week the Swedish nearly man breaks his major duck? His playing partner Zach Johnson nearly joined him in second spot, but his attempt to guide in a 15-foot left-to-right curler stayed on the high side.
So having said that, Kaymer suddenly clicks. He replicates Phil Mickelson’s tee shot at the Postage Stamp, landing his wedge past the hole and sending the ball spinning back on what looks like a certain journey to the bottom of the cup. One slight difference: this time, instead of stopping short, the ball has enough juice but slips past the hole. But like Phil, he’ll be tapping in for a superlative birdie. He joins the groupin second place at -6.
Lefty lags up to 18 inches, a wonderful feel from 30 feet on a slow, soaked green. He walks off with a much-deserved par; that his putt looked, for a second, like dropping for birdie speaks volumes for his control on these greens. He was spotted doing an inordinate amount of practice on and around the 1st green on Tuesday; looks like those drills are paying off. Meanwhile Martin Kaymer misses a decent birdie effort on 7, pushing a five-footer out to the right. He’s level par for his round, nothing quite clicking for him today.
-11: Mickelson (10)
-6: Kjeldsen (13), Z Johnson (6), Stenson (6), Bradley (4)
-5: Kaymer (7), Reed
Mickelson isn’t just embellishing this Open with pretty wedges, delicate chips and elaborate spinning lobs. He’s toughing it out, too. He drives into the long stuff down the left of 10, but takes out an iron and lashes his ball into the heart of the green. He’s still got a testing two putts from distance for his par - and on a green that will have suddenly taken a bit of water, slowing up even more - but that’s some result from where he was. Meanwhile Keegan Bradley’s in a tight spot to the left of the 4th green, but he punches a chip over the bunkers and sends it screeching to a halt a couple of feet from the flag. That birdie will take him to -6. And Zach Johnson picks up another shot at 6, wedging his third to four feet and knocking in the putt. He’s -6 again.
The rain’s coming down now, with extreme prejudice. Open golf, right here! Bogeys for Lee Westwood at 6 and now 9, and he’s out in 37. He’s +1, and another major slips by. Now to his partners. Ernie Els, having sent his second into gorse and taken a drop, double bogeys. He’s had quite a front nine: three birdies, a bogey and two doubles. He’s out in 38, and +2. Mickelson nearly follows Els into the bush, but gets away with it again. He scrambles a par, up and down from a hillock on the right, knocking in a very missable eight-footer. He still hasn’t dropped a shot this week, and he’s out in 33. This is regal.
A lovely tee shot at 5 from Henrik Stenson, to six feet. That’s three birdies on the spin, and he’s -6. His partner Zach Johnson moves the other way with only his third bogey of the tournament so far. He’s back to -5. A birdie for Keegan Bradley on 3 and he’s -5, while Rafael Cabrera-Bello opens with bird to move to -4. Soren Kjeldsen does well to hold on to second place at -6 with a long par saver on 11. But Charl Schwartzel’s birdie charge comes off the rails with bogey at 10; he’s back to -3.
Down the other end of the leaderboard: ladies and gentlemen, Mr Ben Curtis! A little more on his double-digit score on the short par-three 3rd, courtesy of our main man Ewan Murray. Six bunker shots in three different bunkers, apparently! That’s something else. Since the turn he’s bogeyed 10 and 11, and is +17 overall. The weather’s closing in a little, too. Not much wind yet, but there’s mist and rain. So adding insult to injury, he’ll be getting drenched on his way home. Like the clouds above the storm just had to cry.
This is hotting up nicely all right! Ernie Els is two feet away from a hole-in-one on the Postage Stamp. But that’s nothing. Phil Mickelson lands his tee shot 12 feet behind the flag, the ball spinning and swerving back on what looks like an inexorable journey towards hole! The crowd goes ballistic, but they’re to be disappointed as the ball slows to a halt two inches short of the hole. That’ll be a tap-in birdie that’ll take him to -11. This is an astonishing performance by one of the most exciting players ever to pick up a club. If the golfing gods weren’t being a bunch of mardy buggers this week, Phil would have a 62 to his name, a hole-in-one, and a seven-shot lead in the Open after playing 26 holes. As it is, it was a 63, and he’s six clear of Kjeldsen and Zach Johnson at -11. Oh me oh my.
Charl Schwartzel has reached the turn in a superlative 31. He’s right back in this championship, although at -4 he’s still six behind the lead. That’s because Phil Mickelson has taken full advantage of that stroke of luck on 7, wedging to six feet and knocking in the birdie putt to move to -10. For the second time today, he needed all of the hole for that to disappear. Perhaps the golfing gods are apologising to him for that inexplicable non-drop on 18 yesterday, with history beckoning. And it’s another birdie for Zach Johnson, this time at 4, despite being a little wayward from the tee; he’s -6 and looking as composed as ever. His playing partner Henrik Stenson picks up a stroke on the hole too - that’s back-to-back birdies for the Swede - and he’s -5. This is hotting up nicely.
-10: Mickelson (7)
-6: Kjeldsen (10), Z Johnson (4)
-5: Kaymer (5), Stenson (4), Reed
Updated
A second birdie of the day for Dustin Johnson, who picks up a shot at the par-five 4th, as he should. He’s missed two short ones this morning, too: he really should have opened with four straight birdies. His game’s in good nick, but the flat stick is letting him down a bit. He’s -2 though. Meanwhile G-Mac cards back-to-back birdies for the second time today, this time at 6 and 7, and he’s four under for his round. He’s level par for the tournament, and will be ruing that 75 yesterday, all the bother caused during a sticky patch around the turn.
A big stroke of luck for Mickelson on the 7th tee, as he pulls a poorly hit drive towards a pot bunker to the right of the fairway. But the ball takes a kind bounce to the left, just avoiding the trap, and gathers back onto the fairway. He has the good grace to look highly relieved. Back on 4, Kaymer finds himself in another bunker, but this time he’s able to blast out to eight feet, and rolls in the birdie putt. He’s back to where he started this morning: -5.
-9: Mickelson (6)
-6: Kjeldsen (9)
-5: Kaymer (4), Z Johnson (3), Reed
-4: Haas (9), Schwartzel (8), Sullivan (5), Stenson (3), Bradley (1), Thomas, Stricker, Horschel
Mickelson wedges into the par-five 6th. He’s got the ball on a string, pitching it 12 feet behind the flag and spinning it back towards the cup, but there’s an unlucky break: the flag’s near the right-hand edge of the green, and the ball is gathered down a gentle slope and away. It’s still an easy two putts, but a good birdie chance has turned into a slightly more testing one. He trundles an aggressive one four feet past, but knocks in the return to ensure his par. He stays three clear of Kjeldsen, who reaches the turn in 34. Bill Haas meanwhile reaches the turn in 35 after birdies at 1 and 7 sandwich a bogey at 5. And there’s a birdie for Henrik Stenson at 3, his first of the day, and he moves to -4.
A word on Ben Curtis. The 2003 champion shot 77 yesterday, a total he nearly matched today at the 3rd. Curtis took ten strokes on that hole, which measures 377 yards. He’s out in 45, and he’s just dropped another at 10. He’s +16. No word on exactly how he managed his double-digit feat, as it wasn’t televised and there’s no shot tracker. Some confusion about this fiasco in the press tent, too. Looks like all will be revealed in his post-round interview. If any journalist can catch him as he sprints from the premises at high speed with a big, red, embarrassed face, that is.
Zach Johnson looks to be in a little trouble at 2, off the green to the right. But he clips a lovely wedge up the little bank, sending his ball scampering towards the hole like a mouse with a bit of cheese in its slavering maw. And it’s in! A chip-in birdie, and the defending champion is -5. He looks in steely, determined mood this week, but then again when doesn’t he? Meanwhile Dustin misses another short birdie effort, this time at 3. He looks flummoxed. But then again etc.
A fifth birdie of the day for Charl Schwartzel. He rolls one across the 7th from 30 feet and suddenly he’s -4 and right in the mix. Lee Westwood has picked up his first birdie today on 4; he’s -1. Meanwhile Kevin Na started slowly - no jokes please - with bogeys at 1 and 4. But he’s bounced back with three birdies on the bounce, at 5, 6 and 7. He’s -2 overall.
Updated
So Dustin, having missed a three footer for birdie on 1, knocks in a 20-footer on 2 to move to -1. That’s golf, right there. His playing partner Martin Kaymer was in all sorts of trouble from the get-go, finding rough from the tee, then dumping his ball in a bunker 60 yards shy of the green. Getting up and down from there was always a pipe dream. He’s back to -4.
Andrew Johnston is being his usual entertaining self. Beef followed up his bogey at 1 with another at 2, but he’s turned his round through 180 degrees, carding birdies at 3, 4 and 5. He’s up to -3 for the tournament. Kjeldsen lands his second at 7 in the bunker to the left of the green, but splashes out to ten feet - the best he could do - and strokes in the par saver. But up on 4, Mickelson reaches the green in two, hits a not particularly good eagle effort to eight feet, but knocks in the birdie effort, and he’s extended his lead at -9.
Mickelson isn’t too far away from steering in a huge right-to-left curler on 3 for his first birdie of the day. But he’ll have to settle for par. Smiley Matt Kuchar has made it three birdies in a row at 4; he’s -3. The defending champion Zach Johnson has teed off, and whistled his opening shot into the thick rough down the left. Better there than the bunker he nearly went into, at least. Up on the green, his namesake Dustin misses a tiddler for a momentum-gathering birdie. He walks off in a daze, still level par for the tournament. He looks as though the US Open / Bridgestone whirlwind has taken a lot out of him.
The first serious shake-up of the leaderboard has taken place. Another birdie for Francesco Molinari, this time at 6, and he’s into a tie for fifth at -4. He’s very close with a long rake across 7, too. Meanwhile Soren Kjeldsen rolls one in from 40 feet on the par-five 6th, and he’s within two of Mickelson’s lead, in sole possession of second spot!
-8: Mickelson (2)
-6: Kjeldsen (6)
-5: Kaymer, Reed
-4: Molinari (7), Z Johnson, Bradley, Thomas, Stricker, Horschel
It’s back-to-back birdies for Matt Kuchar, who makes another at 3. He’s -2. His playing partner, the 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, is following him shot by shot. Mind you, his birdie putt at 3 would be halfway to Turnberry now had the hole not got in the way. G-Mac is +2 overall. Another bogey for Tony Finau, who misses a short putt at 9 and reaches the turn in 38; he’s back down at -2. He should have done better. But Charl Schwartzel is tearing the place up! He’s followed up his birdies at 1 and 3 with a couple more at 4 and 5, the latest the result of an 18-foot rattle after a pin-high tee shot. Stunning stuff! All of a sudden, he’s -3 overall, and though the course is obviously playing much harder this morning, the South African star is living proof that the stronger wind isn’t totally restrictive.
Andy Sullivan very nearly drains a long putt from off the front of 1 for birdie. But he’ll have to do with a par that keeps him at -4. A bit of trouble for Kjeldsen at 5, stuck in a deep bunker at the front of the green. You can only see his hat. But he splashes out brilliantly to a couple of feet, and saves his par. He’s still -5. His playing partner Bill Haas drops a shot, though, the legacy of a poor tee shot. He’s back to -3. And on 2, Mickelson’s approach is short and wide right, and his chip onto the green isn’t all that, kicking off to the right and leaving a 12-footer for his par. A nervy one. But he hits it with confidence, and the right-hand edge of the cup snaffles the ball down. He’s still at -8. But why couldn’t the right-hand edge of the cup snaffle the ball down yesterday on 18?!?
A birdie for Soren Kjeldsen on the relatively easy par-five 4th, and the Dane joins Patrick Reed and Martin Kaymer in a tie for second. Tony Finau drops back to -3 after seriously underhitting a chip into 7 and leaving himself too much to do for his par. Charl Schwartzel looks as though he means business today: another birdie, this time at 3, and he’s into red figures for the tournament. And an early birdie for Matt Kuchar, at 2. He’ll be buoyed by that, after an appalling finish to his round yesterday: three short putts missed at 16 and 17 followed by bunker problems at the last. He’s back to -1 for the championship. “I’m with Phil, whatever,” writes Tony Blair Ed Ed. “And I’m also with Phachara Khongwatmai, come what may. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the cheap pun.)”
A staunch start by Lee Westwood. He started awfully yesterday, out in 38, but rescued his round with birdie at 12 and eagle at 16. He signed for a level-par 71. So today he’s taken a flyer through 1 with his second, and his chip coming back wasn’t much cop. But in goes the 12-foot saver. Par. His playing partner Ernie Els, meanwhile, who also carded a bang-average 71 yesterday, is getting used to opening-hole disasters in majors. He took four putts from no distance at Hoylake a few years ago, and famously melted down at Augusta earlier this year with six putts from three feet. Now, attempting to chip over a greenside bunker, he’s decelerated and dumped his ball in the sand. He gets up and down, but that’s a needless bogey; he’s +1. The third member of a storied group, Lefty, lags up from 50 feet to three, and tidies up for his par. He looks happy enough as he wanders off to the teebox at 2.
A slow start for Beef. Andrew Johnson shot 69 yesterday, but he’s played the opening hole very gingerly. Most folk finding themselves just off the green so far today have putted up in the Scottish style, but our big bearded hero took out his wedge, and didn’t get it particularly close. He then pulled an appalling five-foot putt left of the hole. It was missing from the moment it left the blade. He’s back to -1. Coming behind him, it’s Lefty, who finds the green with his second, but he’s right at the back with the pin at the front. A club too much. He bounds up the fairway with a smile, but he’ll need all his lagging skills - much practised and very much on display several times yesterday - to get away with par here. That’s the news. Over to Gary Naylor with the weather: “I grew up in links country (the stretch of coast between Liverpool and Southport) and literally never took any notice of the weather forecast as it was hardly ever right. Even a mile inland, conditions could be completely different and we would go from ‘summer’ to ‘winter’ when the wind shifted.”
The leader is out and about! It’ll be interesting to see how Phil Mickelson reacts to coming so close to that epochal 62 yesterday. How that birdie putt on the last didn’t drop is one of the great unanswered questions in the fields of physics and spirituality. The poor man was close to tears when he was being interviewed about it on Sky Sports last night, admitting that feeling so upset after shooting a record-equalling 63, and building a three-shot lead in the Open, was a very conflicting experience. I’m sure he’s recovered, but sport’s a funny thing, there’s just an outside chance that it’s shaken him a bit. Creaming his iron down the middle of 1 suggests he’s regained his equilibrium, no problem. Another birdie blitz before the weather comes in? You wouldn’t put it past him.
Early moves. A birdie for Bill Haas on the opening hole moves the US star to -4, four shots off Phil Mickelson’s lead. Francesco Molinari has birdied 2; he’s -3. KT Kim picked up a stroke at 3 to move to -1. The 2012 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel hit a gorgeous approach at the opening hole, an aggressive line over the bunker guarding front left to the pin just behind, and was rewarded with a birdie that takes him back to level par. Tony Finau has perhaps been the most interesting so far: he failed to get up and down from the back of 3 and bogeyed, birdied the first par-five at 4, then hit an awful tee shot at the par-three 5th, short and right, only to swish an elaborate lob over a bunker that was snookering him to a couple of feet for par. So he’s still -4 after all that. The wind’s not too strong yet, so until it picks up, there are chances for some of these early starters to make hay. Phil Mickelson’s out in ten minutes. Just sayin’.
Incidentally, some of the players are wearing black ribbons in memory of those who lost their lives in last night’s atrocity in Nice. The French flag next to the main leaderboard has been respectfully lowered to half mast.
The weather is obviously going to be quite a factor today. At the Open, that’s exactly how it should be. The twin threats of wind and rain have arrived, causing conditions which are probably best described as changeable. This morning’s wind won’t be super-strong, but the players might have to fight it on the front nine, making the opening holes a much trickier proposition than they were yesterday. They’re certainly playing longer. Later on, stronger crosswinds are expected to come into play, which will keep the field on its collective tootsies all right. Sustained showers will arrive late morning and mid-to-late afternoon. And there could be periods of calm at the tail end of the day. So that’s all bases and eventualities covered. Apart from sun. But hey, we’ll always have Thursday.
HACK HAND-WASHING DEPT.: All of this comes with the usual caveats and disclaimers: you can never quite second guess the weather at the Open, let’s see how things develop as the day goes on, the Met Office’s seaweed might be broken, etc.
Good morning. The beauty of links golf? No two days are ever the same. Troon’s defences were down yesterday, as Phil Mickelson came within the width of a dimple to a record-breaking 62; a third of the field were under par. But today? Here comes the wind and rain! It’ll be different, for sure. But no less entertaining. The best players in the world, versus classic Open conditions. It’s on!
The first-round leaderboard:
-8: Mickelson
-5: Reed, Kaymer
-4: Thomas, Stricker, Horschel, Finau, Kjeldsen, Sullivan, Z Johnson, Bradley
-3: Rose, S Lee, Imahira, Sterne, Haas, Stenson, Garcia, Ikeda, Pieters, Cabrera-Bello
Friday tee times (all BST):
6.35am: Greg Chalmers, Kristoffer Broberg, Clement Sordet
6.46am: David Howell, Seung Yul Noh, Tony Finau
6.57am: Jordan Niebrugge, Nick Cullen, Robert Streb
7.08am: Ben Curtis, Stefano Mazzoli (a), John Daly
7.19am: Francesco Molinari, Kevin Kisner, KT Kim
7.30am: Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, Mark Calcavecchia
7.41am: Soren Kjeldsen, Lasse Jensen, Bill Haas
7.52am: Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel, Kevin Na
8.03am: Emiliano Grillo, Joost Luiten, Charley Hoffman
8.14am: Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Andrew Johnston
8.25am: Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ernie Els
8.36am: Satoshi Kodaira, James Hahn, Andy Sullivan
8.47am: Ryan Moore, Bernd Wiesberger, Tommy Fleetwood
9.03am: Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Russell Knox
9.14am: Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson
9.25am: Chris Wood, Yusaku Miyazato, Mark O’Meara
9.36am: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jason Dufner, Marc Warren
9.47am: Anirban Lahiri, Sergio Garcia, Keegan Bradley
9.58am: Webb Simpson, Yuta Ikeda, Thomas Pieters
10.09am: Rafael Cabrera-Bello, JB Holmes, Brandon Stone
10.20am: Marco Dawson, Matthew Southgate, Yosuke Tsukada
10.31am: Jack Senior, James Heath, Brian Gay
10.42am: Jim Herman, Fabian Gomez, Anthony Wall
10.53am: Paul Howard, Daniel Summerhays, Colt Knost
11.04am: Oskar Arvidsson, Harold Varner III, Tyrrell Hatton
11.15am: Ryan Evans, Callum Shinkwin, Zander Lombard
11.36am: Colin Montgomerie, Marc Leishman, Luke Donald
11.47am: Steven Alker, Marcus Fraser, Sanghee Lee
11.58am: Jeunghun Wang, Jon Rahm, Ryan Palmer
12.09pm: Sandy Lyle, Scott Gregory (a), David Duval
12.20pm: Richie Ramsay, Danny Lee, Harris English
12.31pm: Alex Noren, Steven Bowditch, Kevin Chappell
12.42pm: Darren Clarke, Thorbjorn Olesen, Jim Furyk
12.53pm: Justin Thomas, David Lingmerth, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
1.04pm: Branden Grace, Patrick Reed, Byeong Hun An
1.15pm: Paul Lawrie, Brandt Snedeker, Thongchai Jaidee
1.26pm: Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Jamie Donaldson
1.37pm: Scott Piercy, Paul Dunne, Jamie Lovemark
1.48pm: Victor Dubuisson, Jimmy Walker, Scott Hend
2.04pm: Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry
2.15pm: Ross Fisher, Steve Stricker, Vijay Singh
2.26pm: Danny Willett, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day
2.37pm: Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson
2.48pm: Gary Woodland, James Morrison, Soomin Lee
2.59pm: Smylie Kaufman, Chris Kirk, George Coetzee
3.10pm: Billy Horschel, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Hideto Tanihara
3.21pm: Matteo Manassero, Shugo Imahira, Russell Henley
3.32pm: Kodai Ichihara, Robert Rock, William McGirt
3.43pm: Brendan Steele, Richard Sterne, Matt Jones
3.54pm: Patton Kizzire, Nicolas Colsaerts, Rod Pampling
4.05pm: Dave Coupland, Nathan Holman, Phachara Khongwatmai
4.16pm: Scott Fernandez, Rikard Karlberg, Haydn Porteous
Updated
