After two days of the Open Championship at Royal St George's we've seen everything that links golf is supposed to bring. Shots that land nicely have ended up way off target, the wind has thrown many shots away, and true to the spectacle of the occasion, the leaderboard has been turned on its head from the day before.
But despite the tough conditions, some have still managed to pull off some stunning golf. Dustin Johnson scored a hole-in-one at the par 3 16th hole on Thursday, and yesterday 61 year old veteran Tom Watson put it straight in the cup at the par 3 6th hole.
Highlights of both days, including both holes-in-one can be found at http://www.opengolf.com/?tab=video.
Now for the mega boring part, where we get into the numbers of what has happened over the last couple of days. Bear with me... :)
The big story on Thursday was definitely the emergence of 20-year old English amateur Tom Lewis. An opening round of five-under 65 saw this young man top the leaderboard with Thomas Bjorn. Amazing stuff for someone who has not yet played professionally.
Unfortunately his performance yesterday (Friday) wasn't as epic as the day before, shooting 74, four over par to end up at -1 for the tournament, but at least he will continue playing until Sunday.
For those who don't know, most golf tournaments are played over four days: Thursday to Sunday. After 2 days of play, half the field of players will advance based on their score, and the rest go home. The 'cut line' for the 2011 Open Championship had been hovering at 3 over par (+3), and right now, the most noticeable thing is that there are several big names who have missed the cut. Most notable has to be World Number 1, Luke Donald (+6) and World Number 2, Lee Westwood (+4). These guys, along with names like Ian Poulter (+7), Graeme McDowell (+5) and Ernie Els (+8) won't be on TV for the weekend.
My pick, Rory McIlroy is still in at 'level par'. Right now I really can't predict who will win this tournament. It's so difficult to tell at this point. I could put money on several people and still get it wrong.
Looking at the golf course, with the changeable weather and everything, all I can say is that it will be a real test...and that's what I expect of the Open Championship. I do hope the organizers make it even tougher for the players for today and Sunday.
I also hope the bit of merchandise I picked up at the online store gets here before next weekend. Looking forward to having it in my bag! :)
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