Phil Mickelson saw his lead cut to one shot at the halfway point in the 145th British Open yesterday as Sweden’s Henrik Stenson broke clear of the chasing pack and the weather became a factor for the first time. With rain and wind making life more and more difficult as the day wore on, Mickelson followed up his course record 63 from round one with a 2-under-par 69 to give him a halfway total of 10-under-par.
The US player was four shots clear at one stage but in the end his lead was cut to one by Stenson, who shot the round of the day with a 6-under-par 65, while Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and another US player,Keegan Bradley, were two shots further back on 7-under-par.
Defending champion Zach Johnson was 5-under-par, Sergio Garcia was among those a shot further back on 4-under-par, Germany’s Martin Kaymer finished on 3-under-par after a 2-over-par 73 and US Open champion Dustin Johnson battled to a 69 to be 2-under-par.
But the later starters really struggled, with Rory McIlroy dropping from 5-under-par to 2-under-par by the end, Jason Day battling to level par at halfway and several big names faring even worse. The halfway cut was pushed all the way back down to 4-over-par, enough to allow Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson and Masters champion Danny Willett — who holed a big par putt at the last — to sneak in right on the cut mark. The 46-year-old Mickelson has not won a tournament of any kind since he won his first Open at Muirfield three years ago but is revelling in the unique demands of Royal Troon. “I enjoy these adverse conditions, it is challenging,” Mickelson said.
“I have developed a tee shot with my two-iron that keeps it low and away from the elements. That gives me a stress-free tee shot. It was disappointing not to get the 62 yesterday, but the opportunity to try and win another Claret Jug is also exciting.”
Sweden’s Stenson, though, will have other ideas after a superb 6-under-par 65, including seven birdies and just one bogey. “I am very happy with my round,” Stenson said. “I timed it very well with three birdies in a row before the weather got bad. I dropped a shot on nine with a soft bogey, the only bogey of the day, but I am really happy with the way I hung on in the wind and rain and got a couple of birdies on the way home. It would be huge if I won,” he said. “I’ve had a nice career up to date and managed to win some nice tournaments, but this would be the icing on the cake.”
As the sunshine and calm conditions of day one were replaced by rain and, later, strong winds, scoring became much tougher but Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen was safely in the clubhouse on 7-under-par after a 68. “I think the conditions are similar to where I grew up,” Kjeldsen said. “It’s a great position to be in.”
McIlroy looked on course to be right in contention when he turned in 3-under-par 33 to be 5-under for the tournament but the Northern Irishman, the winner two years ago, was hit by the worst of the conditions.
Bogeys at 9, 10, 12 and 13 dropped him back but he picked up a birdie to end on 2-under-par, eight shots behind Mickelson.
Meanwhile, Spieth wished he could go for ‘one or seven pints’ with his friends after struggling through the second round. The Texan battled through miserable conditions in the afternoon to shoot a 75 that featured two birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey. After opening with a level-par 71, he sat at four over par, right on the cut mark.
“We might have caught the rough end of the draw,” admitted Spieth, who was one of many players left cursing their afternoon tee-times yesterday. “That happens. I kind of shook it off to an extent at the end of the round. I just tried to smile, tried to enjoy the fact that you don’t play in this often.”
The rain had been off and on for much of the day – leader Phil Mickelson was largely spared – but it became incessant towards the end of Spieth’s round and combined with howling winds coming in off the Firth of Clyde to make life increasingly tough for the field.
“You wish your score didn’t matter when you play in this. You wish this was just a round with your buddies where you go into the clubhouse and have one or seven pints afterwards,” added Spieth.
“But we had to post a score today, and I was really pleased with after the frustration of six and eight throwing me back, you know, we were able to play our last, what, six holes at even par, which is a really good score given the conditions we had.”
Spieth’s double-bogey came at the short eighth, the iconic Postage Stamp. There his tee shot found a bunker to the right of the green and it took him two hits to get out as he had a five.
That was before the worst of the weather started to bite on the back nine, and the 2015 Masters and US Open champion admitted he couldn’t remember having competed in such grim conditions. Meanwhile, the 53-year-old Colin Montgomerie, who hit the opening shot on day one, also squeezed in for the weekend, having finished on 4-over-par.