Mickelson, who yesterday missed shooting the best round in Open history, was in similarly devastating form in the 2nd round and at one stage had forged five shots clear. “And that ball and me, it’s between the two of us”.
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“One of the biggest challenges is when you shoot a round like this, you start expectations running through your head and so forth, and that’s the one thing that I’ll have to try to suppress and hold off”, he said. I don’t have another 50 goes at them. He also becomes just the third member of an exclusive lip-out club sharing heartbreak with Tiger Woods who’s putt for history defied gravity at the 2007 US PGA Championship and Nick Price whose ball did likewise at the 1986 Masters. Only Tom Morris Sr. – who won his fourth Open title in 1867 at age 46, when the tournament was played down the road at Prestwick – would be an older victor in Open history.
But Stenson and Kjeldsen were determined to keep Europe’s flag flying on the Scottish links.
The British are represented by Andy Sullivan at four under and Justin Rose three under. Then I was hanging on for dear life on 11 and 12 really.
“Typical me, played the back nine in lower shots than front nine”, Rose said. “It was frustrating not to get a couple wins when I had chances. We’ve rented this house for two weeks and it was literally the first bit of sun we’ve had”. He finished second to the American left-hander in 2013 at Muirfield. In 2014 at Gleneagles he earned a reputation for being the USA’s Ian Poulter. Mickelson wasn’t quite as sharp on Friday, but he played smart golf, taking nearly exclusively irons and fairway woods off the tee to keep himself in position to make pars. His birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, leaving the five-time major champion despondent. “Basically, a good state of mind is where everything teaches you something”. “So you just have that kind of relaxed feeling that you have golf and then relaxing time”. I love everything, how he plays the game. Rory McIlroy was the best of them at three under.
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However, U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson finds himself eight shots off the pace after he could only manage a level-par 71.
