July 16 — He is hardly a household name, but Louis Oosthuizen will likely take the 36-hole lead into the weekend at the 2010 British Open Championship.
With squalls of greater than 40 m.p.h. wreaking havoc all over the Old Course at St. Andrews, and Thursday’s leaders struggling to judge the wind on the greens, Oosthuizen’s morning score of 5-under (12-under for the tourney) appeared to be untouchable.
Just ask Tiger Woods, who three-putted his first and second holes. Wonder how Woods liked the weather Friday?
Tearing up. The golf ace, who wiped the wind-driven tears from his eyes while waiting for what seemed like hours to tee off on the fourth, commented Thursday that he would prefer some St. Andrews-like conditions rather than the benign weather under which he posted a first-round 5-under 67.
Officials actually suspended play for more than an hour during the second round because of high winds that caused golf balls to oscillate furiously on the greens.
What can you do? Woods, who ESPN reported was smiling about the weather, got two back with birdies at five and nine and made the turn at even-par.
Then there was Rory McIlroy. The 21-year-old from Northern Ireland, who had a two-stroke first-round lead after firing a record-tying 63, was already three shots behind Oosthuizen before he even teed off on Friday. With bogeys at four, six, seven, and eight, McIlroy went to the 10th tee at 4-over 40 in his second round.
Bye bye birdie. Phil Mickelson, who was in the clubhouse at even-par and right on the projected cut line, warned that afternoon players would be fortunate to shoot par.
“Par on every hole is a good score,” Mickelson told ESPN after going 1-under on Friday. “There are no more birdie holes.”
Luck of the draw. Poor Phil. For the second consecutive day, Mickelson complained about the weather, even after getting the luck of the draw for the second round.
Sure, he conceded he was disappointed in his play. But, geez, the weather goddesses must really have it in for The Philster.
“I’ve gotten kind of an unfortunate draw,” Mickelson told NBCSports.com after after playing in the rain late Thursday and early Friday. “If I could have got to 5-, 6-under par, I would be right there. Right now I’m inside the cut line but if the winds calm down…there is a good chance I may not make it.”
FIGJAM! Mickelson shared his woe-is-me sob story with every microphone he could find.
“I need perfect conditions to play a great round and have it blow like this in the afternoon,” Mickelson whined, offering a public display of questionable sportsmanship.
Small wonder his fellow competitors don’t love FIGJAM the way his fans do.
Leave ‘em laughin’. He won’t be playing the weekend, but New England golfer Tim Petrovic entertained the troops during the hour-plus wind delay.
“Paul goydos keeping david duval and tim petrovic amused with string of gags,” Golf 365’s Dave Tindall posted on his Twitter feed. “Goydos and petrovic joke that oosthuizen will be 10 clear by close of play.”
The two-man vaudeville act went on to quote Monty Python, after which Petrovic treated himself to a sweet.
“Tim petrovic comes back with an ice cream after getting a buggy ride to 3rd fairway,” Tindall tweeted. “Goydos jealous”
Trunk-slammers. At 7-over for the tourney, Petrovic won’t have to worry about the St. Andrews weather after today. University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly, at 10-over for the tourney, will join Petrovic in exiting St. Andrews before the third round.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Kay also writes the Boston Golf Examiner and National Golf Examiner blogs.)
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