It’s possible Saturday morning’s British Open restart could cost Dustin Johnson his first major or Jordan Spieth the third leg of the Grand Slam.
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The 14-times major victor finished the weather-delayed second round with a three-over-par 75 for a seven-over aggregate of 151.
Play finally resumed at 10am local time and continued uninterrupted before being halted for poor light.
England’s Daniel Brooks recorded the first hole-in-one of the tournament at the short 11th – undoubtedly the best way to play it as that green is the most exposed on the course and had caused most of the problems earlier in the day.
“Yeah, I think it’s a childhood dream and looking up there it’s still a little bit surreal, but something I’m going to have to get used to”, Willett said.
“I said yesterday it could be Armageddon today and it was this morning”, Willett told reporters after firing a three-under-par 69 for a nine-under tally of 135. And then Jordan was running to his ball.
Adam Scott (67), Robert Streb (71) and Marc Warren (69) also finished the second round at 7-under.
T he Old Course at St. Andrews remains there for the taking.
Weather was the story Friday at the 144th British Open. Willett has completed his second round and Johnson is teeing off on 16.
Willett, the world’s No. 39, quit college at age 16 after just a month and went to Jacksonville State University in the United States to play golf. The last Monday finish at a British Open was 1988, when Seve Ballesteros won by two shots at Royal Lytham.
Nick Faldo, the three-time Open champion regarded as Britain’s greatest champion, came out of the TV tower to play St. Andrews one last time.
Watson, playing in golf’s oldest major for the last time, missed the cut on his swansong appearance, but he was given an emotional send-off by the crowd when he walked off the final green with flashbulbs illuminating the gloaming.
A few hundred feet away, Johnson and Spieth took a break from putting on the first tee to applaud.
Several dozen players returned to the course early Saturday morning to complete the second round after a rain delay of more than three hours the previous day.
The Englishman made four birdies in his first 11 holes and had another birdie putt on the 14th hole to get to 11-under par and take a four-shot lead at the time.
Thirty-nine players, including co-leader Dustin Johnson, have yet to complete 36 holes. Needing mostly birdies, he resumed his round with three straight bogeys and shot 75 to finish his two rounds at 7-over 151.
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With the cut projected to be at even-par, Fox dropped to one-over after making bogey on the eighth, leaving him facing an anxious wait for the winds to ease.
