AKRON, Ohio _ More-so than any player trying to navigate Firestone's South Course, the wind won the day during Friday's second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Following rain showers in the morning, steady, 20-mph winds blew into Akron and in the process swept away much hope of a score in the mid-60s. The winds doubled down on Firestone South's already-high price for inaccurate tee shots or imprecise approaches.
It turned Firestone South into an 18-hole monster, not just the 667-yard par-5 16th.
"On this course, which is already known for being difficult to hit fairways, it makes it even more challenging," said Jordan Spieth, who shot a 1-over-par 71 and sits at 1-under for the tournament, tied for sixth place. "Downwind holes, it's hard to hold it from going through, and then into the wind and crosswind holes, it's hard to land it in the correct side of the fairway. They have enough pitch to throw it off. Then when you're out of position off the tee and you're in the rough, it's just that much harder to hold the greens."
William McGirt entered Friday with a 3-stroke lead but shot a 4-over-par 74 on Friday. The wind kept him guessing all day.
"On a scale of 10? 10," McGirt said when asked how tough the wind made Friday's conditions. "Trying to figure out the wind was impossible. I thought I hit a perfect tee shot on 16, got it drawing well inside the bunker, and all of a sudden the wind pushes it hard right, and luckily it kicked over the bunker, but the lay-up shot was a cut and it was well right of the bunker, and somehow the wind started pushing it hard left."
McGirt tried to explain it and then gave up. Nobody had a real answer for it.
"It was a lot of down off the left with a touch of in off the right _ I mean, who knows," McGirt said. "It was all over the place. It seemed to be a lot more out of the west, but down, in. It was hard to figure out. But even though generally it was out of the west, there was still a lot of east in there at times."
Players, such as tournament leader Jason Day (4-under for the tournament, 1-under 69 on Friday), began trying to time their shots with the gusts due to the shifting winds.
"You had to really choose the right gust to hit it on, and it was fluctuating ever so slightly from southwest to northwest, so it was going back and forth," Day said. "You know, it feels like it's into the wind, but it really wasn't. It's just tough because you're trying to hit fairways here, and some of the fairways are really difficult to hit."
In a way, players relinquished a portion of their control on the ball. They had no choice.
"Yeah, it was pretty difficult out there. It's very windy," said Emiliano Grillo, who shot a 1-over 71 and is in a tie for third at 2-under for the tournament. "The wind was doing whatever he pleased."
The weather is expected to be a bit calmer for the final two rounds. Perhaps the scoring will return _ if the wind will allow it.
