The Open: Five things we learnt from round two at St Andrews
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Squeegees are even better than we thought
‘I’ve never seen the Old Course like it was this morning’, said one marshal we chatted to at the back of the sixth green once play had resumed. The much-tweeted shots of the first and 18th fairways and greens gave the impression that Friday might not see any play at all, such was the extent of the standing water. The team of 66 greenkeepers did a marvellous job, though, clearing the course quickly and keeping it in pristine condition. There has been no Chambers Bay-style complaints here and rightly so, with the Old Course playing consistently from first group to last.
Luke Donald is back to his best
The Englishman said after yesterday’s 68 that things were finally heading in the right direction and round two proved it. We followed him from the 11th (where he made birdie) through to the 15th and Luuuuke was striking it beautifully. He has been seventh in his last two events (Travelers and Scottish) and is right in the mix here. He’s back with long-time coach Pat Goss and set to regain his position amongst the game’s elite.
The British crowds are great
Ok, we already knew this but day two reinforced it. Plenty of players have commented on what a joy it has been to play in front of such knowledgeable and considerate crowds and they showed it again on Friday. We followed Sir Nick Faldo’s group for their front nine and, despite being in the presence of two of the game’s modern stars in the form of Rose and Fowler, the loudest cheers were reserved for the three-time Open winner. ‘We love you, Nick’ and ‘You legend’ were the most popular shout-outs and the reception he received as he took his bow on the Swilcan was spine-tingling. There were similar cheers for Tom Watson all the way around with each grandstand giving him a standing ovation. Jolly marvellous.
Jordan Spieth is 21
We didn’t believe it until today. The wire-to-wire win at Augusta, the incredible fightback at Chambers Bay and a couple of cooly-delivered victory speeches have all belied his tender years in the past few months. Today though, we saw chinks in the armour. A first bogey on a par five in the 2015 majors came at the fifth (ok, we’ll let him off that one) before the dummy really left the pram on the back nine. A missed par putt on 11 saw the two-time major winner throw his putter on the ground and run off to the sanctuary of the 12th tee before his playing partners had putted out. Not very St Andrews, Jordan.
The Irish love the links
Rory lifted the title at Hoylake last year and, while the world number one may be unable to defend his title, his fellow Irishmen from both sides of the border are making a good fist of keeping the Claret Jug on the Emerald Isle. Harrington, McDowell, Clarke and Lowry all went well yesterday. They are not leading the green charge, though. That is being done by 22-year-old amateur Paul Dunne who shot a second straight 69 to lie just a few shots off the outright lead.
