British Open: Tommy Fleetwood, Zach Johnson surge early in round two

The British Open is starting to gain some of its old-school feel as rains fall on Carnoustie in round two. That didn’t stop Tommy Fleetwood and Zach Johnson from making some big moves early on Friday.

Welcome to the British Open – the way we’re all used to it being played.

As warmth and sunny skies Thursday gave way to clouds and rain on Friday, scoring has proven to be a bit more challenging. That is, for most players. Two of Carnoustie’s hopeful contenders, Tommy Fleetwood and Zach Johnson, made big moves up the leaderboard early. They’ll look to hang on to their positions as the later groups play on.

The biggest move of the day was made by Fleetwood. Already the holder of the course record, a 63 shot in October at the Dunhill Links, Fleetwood came close to history yet again on Friday. His second-round 65 was just one shot shy of tying the Carnoustie Open record. That mark – a 64 shared by Steve Stricker and Richard Green in 2007 – is safe, but for how long?

Considering the challenge that Carnoustie always presents, along with the tougher weather conditions, Fleetwood was justifiably proud of his bogey-free card.

"“It’s not a course record, but it’s pretty good,” said Fleetwood. “If you went out, you wouldn’t really fancy being 6 under out there. So I think that’s a good indication of how good it was.”"

Fleetwood’s momentum should carry well into the weekend, but he still has some work to do, at least at the moment. First-round leader Kevin Kisner is playing well again at the time of this writing, and the clubhouse leader is none other than 2015 Open champion Zach Johnson.

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The Iowa native has made something of a second home at the British Open in recent years. With six top-20 finishes in his last seven trips across the pond, Johnson is working on some history of his own. At 42, he would become just the third player to win multiple Opens after the age of 39. He would also be the only player to win Opens at both St. Andrews and Carnoustie.

While many players struggle to adapt their game to the unique – and constantly changing – conditions that the Open Championship presents, Johnson has adapted wonderfully. He speaks of golf’s oldest championship with the greatest respect, and his comfort is translating into consistent success.

"“I just think it’s the purest form of golf that we have,” Johnson said ahead of the Open. “Whatever Mother Nature has is what you get. More than that I’ve gotten accustomed to bumps and rolls, hitting it low, hitting it high, getting accustomed to the speed of the greens. I think the main key there is I’ve just embraced it, you know what I mean?”"

That’s the kind of confidence it takes to win an Open under the best of conditions. If things get a little hairy on the weekend, I have no doubt that ZJ will handle things as well as anybody.

Next: British Open: Dustin Johnson's disastrous opening round could send him home early

These two players both have designs on the Claret Jug, and based on what we’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them going at it in the final pairing on Sunday. Look for them to keep the pressure on the rest of the field, regardless of how the rest of the second round turns out.

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