"My friends say I look like Shrek, some of my friends, and you can't choose your friends, so what can I say?"

Steve Elling on leader Open 36-hole leader Louis Oosthuizen and his Shrek knickname.

Largely unknown in the United States, Oosthuizen is writing yet another British Open fairy tale, hoping to become the latest in a series of unheralded winners at the oldest of golf's major championships after taking the early lead Friday at 12 under par.

The 27-year-old briefly used a headcover of the cartoon ogre, before his caddie somehow convinced him that it was bringing him bad luck. Of course, at least Shrek is a name that everybody can pronounce.

It has been cringe-inducing listening to the various news outlets absolutely butcher his surname this week, if not his first name, which is pronounced Louie, not Lewis.

Scott Michaux profiles second place man Mark Calcaveccia, who was in the group in front of Oosthuizen. Not surprisingly, they were the first groups off today.

Calcavecchia, who like many seniors is an early riser, was first off the tee at 6:30 a.m. Friday when the sun was actually out briefly before the rains hit. It was the perfect pole position for him to catch a spark and keep rolling.

"The R&A is nice enough to know that I like to play fast and they certainly know I'm not going to hold anybody up," he said. "But that was the first time I actually hit it first. So yeah, that's pretty cool."