Halfway home to the British Open, and a couple of Camerons are at the top of the standings. Cameron Smith, the Australian marvel, caught and outscored first-round leader Cameron Young with a scorching round of eight below that left him at -13 during the week, the lowest score relative to par afterwards. of two rounds of Open history.
Smith, who challenged the Master and won the players this year, started smoking – three birds in a row to start his round – and never slowed down on a day when the greens softened by rain and calm winds they allowed him to challenge the undulating hills of St. Andrews.
“I’ve always been a good player in tough conditions,” Smith said. “I think most Australians are, for some reason. I think we’ve all been educated to be smart golfers, sometimes we get away from skating. And that helps us a lot, I think, in big tournaments and when conditions become difficult. “
Young played decent golf on Friday, carding five birds against two bogeys for a -3 round that left him at -11 overall. But “decent golf” won’t get it on a day when conditions were perfect for low scores, and Young saw his two-stroke leadership turn into a two-stroke deficit.
Once behind Young hides Rory McIlroy, who has been looking for his first major since 2014. McIlroy’s round of four kept him on the hunt, but he could have been even better; McIlroy missed several opportunities, including a bird putt on the 18th. However, he is again in a position to claim his fifth major.
McIlroy dismissed the idea that playing well in the early stages of another major would benefit him this week. “We play a lot of golf. I should actually think about what I did at the U.S. Open,” he said. “But he just plays good golf and keeps hitting good shots and hits a good shot and hits another good shot after that and just tries to hit good golf shots until you run out of holes.”
Below the rankings, stories await. Viktor Hovland made birds in the last hole to join McIlroy in the penultimate pair on Saturday. Dustin Johnson, the best-ranked player to jump from the PGA Tour to the LIV Golf, made a good round earlier in the day to reach -9 and a brief lead at the club. A pair of Masters champions, world number 1 Scottie Scheffler and ageless Adam Scott are in the top 10 at -8 and -7, respectively. And several players looking for their first major, such as Patrick Cantlay and Tyrell Hatton, are also within walking distance.
The story goes on
As for Tiger Woods, he received a standing ovation as he climbed 18th Street, knowing he would miss the cut.
See the full ranking here.
The Open resumes Saturday morning and with it, the stakes grow much more. The pressure now enters the equation, the pressure to keep a warm start and the pressure to keep calm in a place where golf immortality awaits.
“I’d say it’s going to be pretty brutal,” Smith said. “I think there will be a few more twisted pines, and I think being smart out there will definitely be the key to staying at the top of the standings.”
“It depends on the wind [Saturday]said McIlroy. “If the wind is similar, it will be the same. You’ll see the guys come out 4 or 5 below par and hold on to coming in. ”
Young, a PGA Tour rookie, stated after his round that he would not spend Friday night thinking about the fact that he is in a perfect position to claim a Claret Jug.
“No,” Young said, “I won’t think about it once I leave.”
Believe it or not, it won’t be long before you have to return to the Old Course for the second half of this tournament.
Cam Smith and his mule at the British Open. (Ross Parker / SNS Group via Getty Images)
____
Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee.