2011 Open Championship Clippings, Round 2

Another strange day at Royal St. George's as the hole locations appeared to prevent anyone from going super low and the weather wasn't bad enough to make anyone go super high, so we have just a seven shot differential from the leaders to the bubble boys. And according to Steve Elling, who tries to make sense of the "biblical" weather forecast, four players are within three shots of the lead.

I went back to my RSG yardage book and was reminded that several of the greens only feature two or three legitimate hole locations, which might explain so many seemingly inaccessible holes during Friday's odd round. But as Phil Mickelson said around the round, that still does not entirely explain the seeming imbalance.

Kevin Garside also says the players are already getting impatient with Royal St. George's bounces (including quotes from the Animal Killer) and also this from Mickelson about the hole location balance.

“What I’ve noticed is that at the easy holes the pins have been in ridiculously hard spots. I wish the hard holes would have the hard pin placements and the easy holes would have the easy placements. Then we would have some birdies and some bogeys and doubles. The way it’s set up is going to lead to par, par, par, par.”

Elling suggests it all adds up to a possible advantage for early players, assuming the heavy stuff hasn't come around yet.

Bundled up and trundling along, there are plenty of players teeing off early hoping to pull a Justin Leonard. He shot 68 early in the third round at Muirfield in 2002 and jumped up the board as leaders like Tiger Woods, who shot 81, got caught in a storm.

"Yeah, for sure, if you can get out early tomorrow and shoot 4 or 5 under before the weather comes in, you're going to be looking pretty good coming into the weekend," said Dustin Johnson, who is two strokes off the lead.

The forecast calls for heavy rains in the middle of the day, when leaders will be facing the storm's full frontal assault off the English Channel.

One final element added to the weird day: the apparent lack of advantage for the long hitters. So says Tom Lehman, as quoted at length by Martyn Herman.

"Length isn't really a huge advantage. There's a couple of holes today where it might be. I saw the long guys were driving number five but I can reach the par fives.

"That's one reason why I think the older guys or the more experienced guys or whatever you want to call it are able to do okay here. Length isn't required. It's more about accuracy and the line you take and hitting it where you're aiming."

Here are the ESPN video highlights:

And now for the reporting, starting with the opening graphs division.

Ledes

Larry Dorman in the New York Times:

The only thing that can be said with any certitude at the halfway mark of the 140th British Open is that neither the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, Luke Donald, nor the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, Lee Westwood, will be factors this weekend at Royal St. George’s. The two, each from England, were done in by a seaside links course that will only get tougher.

The Scotsman's Martin Dempster:

EVEN Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive, was baffled. Summer had arrived in Kent for the first time this week and conditions were perfect for the morning starters.

We just had to wait for the low scores to be posted. Yet, after waiting and waiting, they never came.

Instead, the leading score in the 140th Open Championship went backwards on what proved to be a perplexing second day at Sandwich.

Doug Ferguson's more long-winded than normal with the lede again today, but we'll forgive him since he's a recent crime victim.

Darren Clarke marched along bumpy fairways on a wild ride at Royal St. George’s that was filled with blunders and brilliance, and one final birdie that brought the kind of ovation he had not heard in a decade at the British Open.

Right behind him was Lucas Glover, far more steady in closing his solid round with eight straight pars.

When a sun-baked and wind-blown second round finally ended Friday, they shared the lead in a major that is living up to its proper name.

The Open Championship is every bit of that.

Barry Svrluga in the Washington Post:

The strangest thing happened along the Kent coast Friday morning: The sun, rumored to be star relatively near the earth that provides heat and light, appeared. The air, for at least a few moments, sat still. Royal St. George’s, littered with more lumps and bumps than a prizefighter’s face, almost seemed vulnerable.

James Corrigan goes the Clarke route in The Independent.

The strangest thing happened along the Kent coast Friday morning: The sun, rumored to be star relatively near the earth that provides heat and light, appeared. The air, for at least a few moments, sat still. Royal St. George’s, littered with more lumps and bumps than a prizefighter’s face, almost seemed vulnerable.

Leaders

Andy Farrell with the impressive list of names who missed the cut, most notably the world's Nos. 1 and 2.

Jim McCabe looks at the same guys plus Graeme McDowell, who had some interesting things to say about his game.

Donald and Westwood were hardly the only notables to check out early. So, too, did 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, whose round of 77 did not include a single birdie. Nor did it answer any of his questions.

“I just drove it average. Iron play was average. Everything was average. My attitude has been pretty average the last two days, I’d have to say,” McDowell said after missing a cut for the fourth time in his last seven PGA Tour tournaments.

“I wouldn’t call it traumatic. It’s just sport. But it’s disappointing, of course. I’m just not in the right frame of mind.”

In case you missed it, the BBC video of Miguel Angel Jimenez warming up, with Alliss commentary labeled Spackleresque by reader Tim.

John Huggan on Darren Clarke's resurgence:

The big question is whether or not Clarke's notoriously fragile putting stroke will hold up sufficiently and allow him to compete and contend over the second half of what is, for anyone not born American, the most important event on the crowded golfing calendar.

Still, he is not short of confidence only two months on from what was his thirteenth European Tour victory at the Iberdrola Open in Spain. Asked to identify the best shot of the 68 he struck on a beautiful golfing morning here on the Kent coast, Clarke didn't hesitate.

"My little cut 7-iron into the last hole," he said, a wee smile spreading across that expressive face. "I hit it on a very brave line and it came off perfectly. I'm either very brave or very stupid. Frequently, I don't know which. But it was a shot I wanted to take on."

Rob Hodgetts says Clarke is looking forward to the bad weather.

But irrespective of the forecast, the eye is drawn to the name of old-stager Clarke at the top of the leaderboard. The 41-year-old is enjoying a renaissance and providing another good Open story. He was second in 1997 and third in 2001 and convention would suggest a Northern Irishman thrives in bad weather.

"I believe the forecast for the weekend is very, very poor, which I quite look forward to," he said. "I've been doing a lot of practising in bad weather because that's usually what we get at Portrush. Hopefully it will stand me in good stead.

Derek Lawrenson reports that Clarke attributes his peace of mind to Graeme McDowell introducing him to his fiance.

Now he is engaged to former Miss Northern Ireland Alison Campbell, and spoke movingly about how she has turned his life around.

'Alison is a great girl and has been instrumental in me getting my life back,' said Clarke, runner-up to Justin Leonard in the 1997 Open at Royal Troon.

'Nothing I face this weekend could possibly be more difficult than the K Club, but I know the last two rounds are going to be anything but a breeze.'

Ryan Herrington on Lucas Glover and the beard talk continuing.

As is the case in the U.S., much has been made by media and spectators alike in England of Glover's facial hair. The interest has taken on a bit of a surreal feeling, as the tournament's radio commentators spent upwards of 10 minutes talking about Glover's growth, eventually deciding that no bearded player had won the Open Championship since the 1890s.

On cue, here's Tom English on the beard and America's chances of winning the Open.

Lucas Glover out of Greenville, South Carolina. An American. A bearded American. Opinions vary on who was the last bearded winner of the Open. There is a case to be made for 'Bushy' Bob Ferguson in 1882, but he was more of the goatee rather than the full-on growth. The consensus is that Willie Park, the demon of Musselburgh, was the last one and you have to do go back to 1875 to find him in all his hairy pomp. Is Glover the new Park? We shall see.

Steve DiMeglio on Glover warming to links golf.

"So it is what it is. I've become comfortable with that," Glover said. "Originally I wasn't. I'd get mad if it rolled into a bunker or bounced off a green when I hit an average shot. But when you don't hit the precise shot here you get penalized and that's the way it should be."

Old Tom and Young Tom, Day 2

Starting off with what else but Watson's ace:

Bill Fields on Tom Watson's career, his aces and No. 6 on Friday.

Watson gave his lucky Royal St. George's ball to his wife, Hilary, for safekeeping, while he prepared for another weekend at another British Open after having missed the cut at St. Andrews last summer. At two-over 142 after a 70 - that could have been better if not for three three-putt greens -- Watson was only six strokes off the lead when he finished, with rain and wind in the forecast for Saturday, which is likely to make the old Kent links play mean.

Jim Huber tells us the ball is headed to the Hall of Fame.

The ball originally went to Hilary, his wife, but that won’t last long. The World Golf Hall of Fame has asked for the donation and he will comply, leaving him with just one of the 15 aces left back home -- the very first when he was just a kid.

Bob Harig on the ace and surprising club used. Video of the ace is also included:

Watson used a 4-iron Friday on a hole that was playing just longer than 160 yards.

"Old guys hit 4-irons 160 yards into the wind," said Watson, 61, who shot 70 to complete 36 holes at 142, 2 over par.

Robert Lusetich shares a quote that makes it sound like Watson is plenty confident:

“I feel in pretty good shape. I’m not too bad,” he said.

“But when you see these kids and the speed with which they hit the golf ball with their driver, it’s just a different sound. Their sound is a whoosh and mine is a thud. There’s a difference.

“But,” he said with a wink, “The thud works every time.”

Alistair Tait on the advice Watson has for Young Tom Lewis after watching him for two days

And with the wisdom of over 50 years in the game, Watson knows just the approach Lewis should take as he heads out into the big bad world of professional golf.

“I think the most important advice is, don’t get too complicated in your life,” Watson said. “You can get very complicated by adding a lot of people and a lot of things in your mind. Keeping it pretty simple, keeping the mind free of clutter is the most important thing. You don’t need the clutter.”

An unbylined BBC report on Lewis suggests today was a good learning experience.

One of his five bogeys came after congratulating playing partner Tom Watson on a hole-in-one at the sixth.

"It will take me a while to get over that score but I'm still in the red so it's not too bad," Lewis told the BBC.

"It was very different and with the sun out expectations were risen. I am disappointed to shoot four over and I struggled around the greens.

"If you asked me two days ago I'd have taken one under after round two but now it doesn't feel so good. Four over is not great."

Lawrence Donegan handles Lorne Duncan's hour-by-hour activities Friday as looper for Lewis.

Tom was fuming when he came off the golf course. Like all golfers, young and old, he probably finds it difficult to realise that everybody else out on a links course is having a hard time. But after 10 minutes, and a couple of interviews, he was calm. And I was impressed by that, too. He really is something.

The Daily Mail's Martin Samuel says this may just be the thing that helps Lewis this weekend. The column also features several good photos, including one of Lewis' girlfriend making her debut in a tabloid!

So how good is Lewis? Good enough to be mildly irritated by his reversal of fortune. Good enough to have his dad, Bryan, heading south to sort him out in time for today's pairing. Good enough to have Tom Watson, the golfer he was named after, handing out advice and compliments with equal generosity, as they made their progress around sun-blessed Sandwich.

The chatter that announced Lewis as British golf 's next big thing now seems less wildly speculative. He may even benefit further away from the spotlight today, a degree of normality achieved after time spent as one of The Open's headline acts.

Other Players

Ian Chadband on Rory's miraculous save at the last, not only because of the lie in the bunker, but his made putt on a green that seemed to reject most other attempts.

And when he holed a 10-footer at the last, making an astonishing par save after somehow managing to extricate himself from a plugged lie in the greenside bunker, you could almost imagine the thunderous roar for Rors being replicated on Sunday afternoon. He knew its importance.

“I put myself under a lot of pressure to hole it. It makes me feel pretty good headed into the weekend.”

Dave Shedloski on Phil's links course attitude continuing to evolve.

"I haven't been positive on the golf course, and I haven't really embraced the challenges out there like I should," he added. "Every shot poses a certain challenge, and I just haven't embraced it. That's kind of the difference, I would say, and I'm really enjoying it. ... I'm trying to enjoy myself more out there.

"It was a good round. I think there's room for improvement. But it was a good start."

Scott Michaux talks to Mickelson's caddy, who credits Butch Harmon with Phil's improved play.

Jim Mackay, Mickelson's caddie, says that the work with swing coach Butch Harmon has made a difference this week more than any other.

"People like to make a big deal out of his record not being as good as people would like it to be in this tournament," Mackay said. "I tend to think that the work he does with Butch will show up more here than elsewhere. ... I think it's a case of his ball-striking getting better and better."

And Gene Wojciechowski features this quote from Bones:

Then came Friday and new Phil arrived.

"I will say this," said his longtime caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay, "today's round … from a ball-striking standpoint, was one of the very best rounds I've ever seen him have. Ever seen."

Look out for Martin Kaymer, says Sean Martin in his five things column. The disastrous swing changes are leaving the system and he's ready to fire this weekend.

Kaymer’s game is starting to come around after making swing changes this year. He had a chance to win his last start, the French Open, but finished fourth.

“It definitely was worth it to do,” Kaymer said. “And now I can feel like slowly everything will come together. I am playing better golf already. It’s just a matter of patience.

Paul Kelso on amateur Craig Hinton, who was 29-over-par but overcame big odds just to qualify.

He has overcome significant adversity to make it to St George's via qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports. In 2009, on a trip to Spain, he was taken ill and briefly went blind, taking eight months to recover. Earlier this year he returned for the Spanish amateur and was admitted to intensive care and diagnosed with myopericarditis, inflammation of the heart.

Hinton can take comfort from going one better than Sergio Garcia, who shot a 30-over par 172 that left him in tears at Carnoustie in 1999.

Playing partner Gregory Bourdy was sympathetic: "It is very, very tough for him. Royal St George's is one of the hardest courses in the world and it is easy to make big scores if your game is not right. But he kept a really good attitude and made some lovely pars and a birdie."

Watches: Media, Experience

John Strege's media watch praises Paul Azinger for his honesty. And not so much love for Curtis Strange, teetering on the brink of...

-- Can a generalization be made about the professional golfers of an entire country? Curtis Strange made one, after Japan's Tetesuji Hiratsuka holed a bunker shot at the eighth hole.

"The Japanese were always excellent bunker players," Strange said. "Always had upright swings. Could go down behind the ball more steeply than some."

Rick Reilly tied the recent labor woes of the NBA and NFL with golf's independent contractors and it was the aftermath that was more entertaining.

Golfers have the worst job security this side of Naomi Campbell's assistants. These guys are out there on their own skill and their own guts and their own dime, and they deserve some credit for it. You get the yips or a sore back or an ungrateful putter, we'll see you on the Hooters Tour.

Remember Trevor Immelman? Good-looking kid? Won the 2008 Masters? If he were in the NFL, he'd have signed a five-year deal for $75 million. Instead, he goes out and can't find a fairway with a course map, makes $1.3 million over the next three years, and must be wishing he had gone on to optometry school.

Deadspin shredded the column ("Popped another rehashed turd in to the microwave") and also noted that an innocuous Rupert Murdoch reference was erased.

Paul Radley reports on the less than positive fan experience some are reporting:

"I don't care how nice the course is, or how good the facilities are, this place should not have the Open," one South African visitor said from the back of the bus. "It just can't cope."

One couple had set off from their home in St Albans, on the other side of London, at 6.30am. The 193-kilometre trip to the front gates had taken them six hours.

"I'll definitely be writing to the R&A about this," harrumphed another unsatisfied bus passenger, referring to Britain's golf governing body. "It is disgraceful. It is enough to make you ashamed to be British."

Flora, Fauna, Images

The Golf Digest gang posts an album of black and whites.

Alan Bastable hangs out with locals who aren't missing Tiger. THis is worth checking out just for the photos of sun burnt Brits.