At one hole, he accounted for the howling wind by aiming his shot toward the Irish Sea. He had a 65, his best ever in the British Open, and goes into the weekend just one shot behind.
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Troon: Phil Mickelson held his lead at the British Open on Friday after a second-round 69 left him at 10 under par heading into the weekend. For those who teed off Friday morning, the stormy weather hung off in the distance, giving them a chance to put up some low numbers before things turned nasty.
The reigning US PGA champion should not need almost as much gear on day three as the forecast suggests it will be cloudy with bright spells, although quite cool in the morning.
“I kind of saw that shot the last two days and I got a little bit more aggressive than is probably smart, but it’s paid off”, Mickelson said.
One after another, those who endured the worst of it tried to describe what they had just been through, a dazed look in many of their eyes.
Let’s count: Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, Danny Willeett, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson all made the cut by a stroke. Rory McIlroy, one of the biggest hitters in the world, had a drive that went only 230 yards after getting caught up in the gusts.
By the end of the day, the leaderboard revealed a striking divide.
Johnson hit seven of 14 fairways during Friday’s round and was quick to point out how much of an effect the rain and wind had on play.
Scott was the only Australian to land on the right side of the Open draw, but failed to take advantage in a disappointing second-round 73, the same score as Jones shot playing in the worst of it late afternoon.
If the first round was a chamber of commerce day, this was more like a chamber of horrors day. “When you see such a disparity between the draw, and you see no name from this side of the draw popping up, it’s just frustrating”.
Spieth made the cut with no room to spare at Royal Troon and began the third round 14 shots behind Phil Mickelson. The oldest victor of any major is Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.
From 2005 through 2010, the period during which he said he played his best golf, he finished the Open in 60th place, in 22nd place, missed a cut, advanced to 19th place and then fell back to a tie for 48th.
His tee shot at the 15th wound up in thick grass left of the fairway. Finally, just before he headed back to tee it up again, he found his second ball. Stricker had 17 pars and a quadruple bogey.
Instead, Mickelson was grinning afterwards because this famous gambler knew he’d rolled the dice on the draw and come out with a double seven.
As Mickelson headed to the clubhouse to dry off, Henrik Stenson was his closest challenger.
“It’s always harder to push the first one over the line, I would imagine, than the fifth one”. It’s the best I’ve seen Phil play in a long, long time.
Others may have something to say about that storyline, however, though not the ones you might expect.
Saturday’s forecast is for morning cloudy skies and light wind, followed by light showers and the breeze possibly picking up to 25 miles per hour.
McIlroy, who complained about links golf after playing in story weather at Royal St. George’s five years ago, has come to grips with the capriciousness of the British Open. “Some draws go your way and some draws don’t”, he said.
“His swing’s good. He’s got his ball flight under control”.
“This year it’s not so much. I am optimistic about this week and the coming years and the opportunities to add to my resume”.
But he still thrived, with three bogeys on the front nine, including at the short eighth, the Postage Stamp, when he nearly holed his tee shot.
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“I’ve played a couple of good rounds but I’m still eight shots behind”.
