The Open Championship: Dustin Johnson Leads After 36 Holes
By Danny Norris
It was a long Saturday of starting, stopping, waiting (for ten hours), and eventually playing, but the second round is finally in the books. Dustin Johnson leads after 36 holes at 10-under.
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Johnson was a part of the afternoon wave that had to come out early Saturday to try and finish the round. Unfortunately, for Johnson, he took his shots in the outrageous winds and ended up bogeying the 14th hole before play was eventually suspended.
However, Johnson came back to birdie the 18th to get back to 10-under and take a one shot lead heading into the third round.
Johnson’s playing partner will be Danny Willett who did have to come to the course Saturday. Willett was able to relax and sleep in as he was a part of the afternoon/morning wave for Thursday and Friday.
The most impressive part about Willett’s score is the fact that he shot a first round 66 when the conditions were way worse than what the morning wave got. He didn’t squander that score on Friday as he carded a 3-under 69 to sit at 9-under for the tournament alone in second place.
The 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie is in a great spot to perhaps hoist the Claret Jug for a second time. The 46-year old shot a 66-70 to take an 8-under par into the third round.
In a tie for 4th are a number of notable golfers including: Jason Day, Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Robert Streb, and Marc Warren.
Hideki Matsuyama got off to a scorching start on Friday. Matsuyama birded the first four holes and was 6-under after 14 holes before play was halted late in the day.
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Matsuyama resumed today and rode off with four straight pars to sit in a tie for 10th at 6-under. He joined Luke Donald, Paul Dunne, and Ratief Goosen.
Sitting in a tie for 14th at 5-under par are a number of notables including Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, and Charl Schwartzel.
After a strong 5-under 67 on Thursday, Spieth was just even par for the 2nd round. Spieth couldn’t get anything going on Friday afternoon or on Saturday.
Spieth will be joined by Garcia on Sunday who birded the 17th and 18th to get to put himself in contention. Garcia took advantage of a lucky break he got on 17 as his approach shot was on it’s way to perhaps landing somewhere near the wall.
Fortunately, Garcia’s ball hit the pin and landed within eight feet of the hole.
Schwartzel’s Saturday wasn’t so lucky as he hit his tee shot on 17 Saturday morning when the wind was blowing about 100 MPH. Schwartzel would then resume his play later on in the day, but would end up double bogeying the hole. Schwartzel did bounce back with a birdie on 18.
The cut line for the tournament was even par a few notable such as Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Graeme McDowell, and Lee Westwood were right on the cut line.
Golfers such as John Daly, Victor Dubuisson, Tommy Fleetwood, and Kevin Kisner weren’t so lucky as they missed the cut by one. Other notables that missed the cut include: Brandt Snedeker, Keegan Bradley, J.B. Holmes, Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson, Bill Haas, and, of course, Tiger Woods.
Tomorrow will be interesting. Rain is scheduled to be in the forecast and wind at only 5 MPH with gusts of 10 MPH, according to accuweather. If that ends up being true, we could see some really low numbers. A lot of the bombers should be able to pin seek and pile up the birdies.
The weather bodes well for golfers like Johnson, Day, Scott, and Oosthuzen. Also, don’t forget about golfers like Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, and Henrik Stenson who strike the ball well and are very long. They could post a low number early in the day without much pressure on them.