So what did we learn after the opening 18 holes of the Open Championship? A baked-out Carnoustie Golf Links, with no wind, will yield red numbers—although not quite as much red as other links courses. Kevin Kisner’s 66 was impressive, but if the calm conditions that greeted players on Thursday were seen at other venues on the Open rota, 63s would likely have been the order of the day. Meanwhile, the forecast for Friday calls for darker skies, spots of rain and a generally more Open Championship atmosphere for the Open Championship. So, what does that mean for the second round? In theory, players in the morning wave—most notably Tiger Woods (10:20 a.m. tee time), Rory McIlroy (7:52), Justin Thomas (8:25), Dustin Johnson (8:03) and Brooks Koepka (9:58)—might wind up seeing that they are this year’s hard luck golfers stuck on the “wrong side” of the draw. That’s just fine with the likes of Kisner, who tees off at 12:53 p.m. In the meantime, the rest of the field will still be trying to figure how to attack Carnoustie in hopes of finds a secret that can propel them into the weekend. Once again, sit back, relax and stick with us here for the latest scores and highlights from Day 2.
All times local to Carnoustie.
9:31 a.m.: "Spies" say Tiger's tape is back. (Promise it's our last tape reference … for at least a little while.) Meanwhile, in case you missed it, here's our man Dave Shedloski's take on Woods' opening-round 71.
9:12 a.m.: Weather check: the rain is no longer a drizzle, but actually coming at a steady pace. So much so that players are starting to take out their umbrellas. It's the heaviest rain seen here at Carnoustie all week. The forecasts suggest the rain should linger at least through the morning, potentially tapering off in the afternoon.
9:05 a.m.: Speaking of Tiger, we have our first Woods sighting as he strolls to the driving range, 75 minutes ahead of his (10:20 tee time). Unclear if the tape is on today or not (too much raingear).
9:02 a.m.: Have a few "spies" coming to the course this morning after making the walk through the tiny town of Carnoustie. Their early reports: contrary to popular belief, there's no early run in KT tape after Tiger Woods became an unofficial endorser yesterday.
8:48 a.m.: Ryan Moore has to "settle" for par on the par-5 sixth, the second easiest hole at Carnoustie on Thursday. Still, a birdie on the third leaves him at four under, one stroke off the lead as he plays the 40th major of his career. Moore got into the Open off the alternate list when 1999 Carnoustie winner Paul Lawrie pulled out of the tournament due to injury. Interestingly his opening-round 68 on Thursday was the lowest he's ever shot in any of the 40 major starts.
8:38 a.m.: Not entirely sure what to make of this but …
8:29 a.m.: Rory McIlroy saves par on the third hole after his wedge approach on the short par 4 bounded over the green. It leaves him two under for the tournament. His 69 on Thursday went a bit under the radar, it's interesting to note that the last six times McIlroy shot an opening round in the 60s at a major, three of those times he's won. And the other three times he's had top-10s. Suffice it to say, the oddmakers have taken note of this trend.
8:14 a.m.: Just how disappointing was DJ's Thursday? According to Golf Channel's stat guru Justin Ray, DJ's 76 tied for the worst first-round score in the Open by a sitting World No. 1. During the ranking's first year, 1986, Seve Ballesteros also opened with a 76. The solace for DJ? Seve wound up finishing T-6 that week at Turnberry.
All this said, after hitting the green with a wedge and leaving himself a 14-foot putt for birdie, DJ misses high left and settles for par.
8:03 a.m.: It was certainly a disappointing day on Thursday for Dustin Johnson. The World No. 1 made just one birdie and then made a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th to finish with a 76. If there was any doubt he's going to take a more aggressive attitude, the driver he just pulled out of the bag on the first hole answers the question … and then laced 343 yards.
7:42 a.m.: For those of you curious about the hole locations for the second round:
7:34 a.m.: Another example of how the course might be playing different today? Tommy Fleetwood hit driver off the first tee, the first player in the field to do so on Friday. It's believed that nobody pulled a driver until the afternoon wave on Thursday.
7:25 a.m.: Early signs of a different Carnoustie on Friday compared to Thursday? The first double bogey of the day has been recorded by amateur Sam Locke on the third hole. Took until 8:31 a.m. yesterday for that to happen.
6:59 a.m.: Trying to get caught up on Thursday's play? Here's 17 numbers that help summarize the round.
6:38 a.m.: Drops? Drizzle? A sprinkling? Whatever the proper Scottish way to say it, there's a bit of rain going on as the first threesome of Brandt Snedeker, Sam Locke and Cameron Davis is off the tee on Friday at Carnoustie. It's not enough for more than a smattering of umbrellas to have been pulled. Will it be enough, though to help keep balls in the fairway?
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "British Open 2018 live blog: Rain greets players as they begin the second round at Carnoustie"
Post a Comment