Adam Scott drops down in crowded British Open field

ADAM Scott has lost ground to the British Open leading pack, but a strong second-round finish kept him in the hunt for the Claret Jug.

143rd Open Championship - Round Two

AS omens go, it was a pretty impressive one. There was Rory McIlroy, chasing his first British Open win, preparing to putt for birdie to go eight under par on the 8th green.

And then, moving regally past the hole, bringing the world’s most prestigious golf tournament to a complete halt, strutted a magnificent pheasant.

Totally unperturbed by the huge crowd, television cameras and six men carrying clubs, it made its way across the green, past the bunker towards the gallery, then stopped and turned as if to watch McIlroy’s stroke.

The birdie duly sunk, the pheasant waited until the applause died down, and continued on its way.

It was just one dramatic and memorable moment on a day of dramatic and memorable moments that saw McIlroy move to 12-under and take a four-stroke lead over Dustin Johnson with a posse of chasers a further two behind, Ernie Els track down the man he thought he’d killed on day one, and Tiger Woods score a clutch last-hole birdie to survive the cut.

Adam Scott hits his approach on the eighth hole.

As with Thursday — and with forecasts for strong winds and rain on Saturday and Sunday as well — the major player on the day was the weather.

On day one it was the early starters like McIlroy who enjoyed benign conditions while the afternoon brigade, led by Australia’s world No. 1 Adam Scott, battled the elements to stay within striking distance.

Yesterday it was the opposite. The respite that Scott and Co. hoped for with an early start didn’t eventuate. In fact, the conditions were worse.

“Today was much tougher out there,” he said.

“Just the slight direction change and the gusts. All of a sudden there were holes where I was hitting 6-iron in the 140 yards. That’s when you know it’s pretty windy. And drives are going miles and 4-irons are going 300 yards. It’s crucial how well you adjust to that on a day like today.”

At one stage it appeared that Scott wasn’t adjusting too well at all. Late in his round his four under starting score had blown out to one under. Birdies on the last two holes took him back to three under and still within sight of the leaders, given the right conditions.

“If it’s tough conditions I’m certainly up for that challenge,” he said.

“I feel like I’m swinging the club really well. So the tougher it gets I think more of that favours me, if I can keep swinging well.”

Clubhouse leader George Coetzee plays a shot on the 16th fairway.

The key though will be if McIlroy also has to face those same tough conditions. In the first two rounds he has been blessed. Thursday it was the morning that was perfect, yesterday when he walked to the first tee at 2.27pm it was as if the wind gods had flicked the ‘off’ switch.

By the time the pheasant stopped play, the flag on the green sagged limply on its stick.

Even so, McIlroy bogeyed his first hole, raising the spectre of the much discussed “Freaky Friday” phenomenon that has seen him suffer a string of inexplicable reversals of form on the second day of tournaments.

Asked early in the week how he would attempt to overcome the problem for his second round in the Open, he joked, “I don’t know. Pretend it’s Thursday maybe”.

That being the case, it worked. His score of 66 was the same as the day before. Following the round McIlroy was in an almost Zen-like state. He even mentioned the pheasant, describing its appearance as “nice”.

Tiger Woods only just survived the cut at the Masters.

“I feel like I have an inner peace on the golf course right now,” he said.

“I just feel very comfortable. It’s hard to describe. It’s just being mentally strong, mentally aware of everything. I think it all comes down to if you’re confident with your game and you’re in control of your ball out there, it makes things a lot easier.

“People call it the zone, people call it whatever; it’s just a state of mind where you think clearly. Everything seems to be on the right track. I’ve always said whenever you play this well you always wonder how you’ve played so badly before. And whenever you’ve play so badly, you always wonder how you play so well.

“Golf is a very fickle game. I’m happy where my game is at the minute, and hopefully I can just keep up the solid play for another couple of days.”

Masters champion Bubba Watson missed the cut.

Equally impressive was American Dustin Johnson who finished with the day’s low round, a stunning 65 to be four adrift of the leader. A further two strokes behind are Francesco Molinari, Ryan Moore, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.

By rights, Johnson’s round should have been one of the biggest stories of the day, but he was overshadowed by a player who didn’t make the cut, and one who just scraped in.

Ernie Els’ Open Championship was over almost before it started when his first tee shot struck an elderly spectator in the head. After seeing the man dazed, bleeding profusely and hearing he had been taken to hospital, a badly shaken Els lost concentration, three-putted and never regained composure.

“I could tell he was badly shaken up,” said his playing partner Phil Mickelson yesterday.

“I said ‘don’t let it worry you, I do that all the time’, but it obviously didn’t help.”

Ernie Els had a horror day after hitting a spectator in the head.

Els struggled to a five-over 77 on Thursday and followed with 73 to miss the cut, but was more interested in having his management team track down the man he had hit.

After finishing his second round the two men spoke on the telephone and Els arranged two tickets to the final two days of play.

Tiger Woods came within a stroke of sharing a cab to the airport with Els, but to the delight and relief of spectators and television executives he fought and grafted his way back from a second consecutive disaster on the first hole to earn a weekend start with the last shot of his round.

Others weren’t so successful. Local hero Lee Westwood missed the cut with a 77 in the morning winds, as did American Boo Weekley, who followed his first round 69 with a seven-over 79, US Masters champion Bubba Watson and 1997 Open winner Justin Leonard.

Best of the Australians was Marc Leishman whose 72 seems him in equal 15th position with Scott.

John Senden and Matt Jones both scored 74 to sit on one over, while Jason Day needed a birdie for 73 on the last to scrape under the cut one stroke back.

While Day felt relief, fellow Aussie Rhein Gibson felt elation when he did the same thing, rejoicing with his excited family after sinking a long putt to make it to the weekend.

Missing out were Brett Rumford and Bryden Macpherson, who followed his 18-over 90 on day one with an 80 for a 26-over total of 170.

Originally published as Adam Scott drops down in crowded British Open field