Oosthuizen soars to 3-stroke lead
Source: Agencies |
July 17, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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SOUTH Africa's Louis Oosthuizen surged to a three-stroke lead at the British Open yesterday on a day when play was halted because of high winds.
Despite sunny skies mixed with puffy white clouds, officials decided the Old Course was unplayable because the wind was gusting to about 64 kilometer/hour, causing balls to wobble on some of the exposed greens, especially those along St Andrews Bay.
Play was suspended 1 hour, 5 minutes at midafternoon, shortly after Phil Mickelson finished his second round in brutally tough conditions and Tiger Woods had teed off.
During the break, some players returned to their lounge near the first tee to wait for conditions to calm. Caddies lounged on a grassy knoll, munching on sandwiches and bananas. Some fans claimed a patch of ground and caught a nap.
Oosthuizen, a 27-year-old from Mossel Bay whose given name is Lodewicus Theodorus, shot a 5-under 67 for a 12-under 132 at the midway point of the tournament. He pulled ahead of Rory McIlroy, the 21-year-old Northern Irishman who tied the major-championship record with a 63 on Thursday.
The weather made it a typical British Open roller-coaster of a day. The early starters found blue skies when they arrived, but heavy rains rolled in shortly after the start of the round. The sun peeked through the clouds again, then more showers struck just before noon. The players, it seemed, spent as much time reaching for their umbrellas and rain gear as they did for their clubs.
"I got up this morning and it wasn't looking real pretty at 4:30," said 50-year-old Mark Calcavecchia, who played in the first group and became the latest old-timer to contend at the Open. "It was actually beautiful when we teed off. Then we saw a little bit of everything."
Oosthuizen wasn't worried about any of that, and he was already done when the wind started to blow around lunchtime.
"I'm very confident with the way I'm playing," he said. "It's probably the position anyone wants to be in playing a major on the weekend, and I think it's what we work to achieve, and I'm just very happy with the two rounds I put together."
There was nothing to indicate he might contend at golf's oldest major championship. He missed the cut this year at the Masters and the US Open, and did the same at last week's Scottish Open. This is only the second time he'll make the cut in nine major appearances.
Oosthuizen strung together three birdies in a row beginning at the par-5 fifth, where a driver and a 4-iron left him with a chip that he left 5 feet from the flag.
Among those giving chase: Calcavecchia, whose 67 left the 1989 Open champion at 137, and England's Lee Westwood, who was another stroke back at 6-under despite playing with a ruptured muscle in his right calf. Another Englishman, Paul Casey, was tied with Westwood at 138.
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