The Open Diary - Friday
Terminator Genisys — As not seen in St Andrews
Pádraig Harrington loves a good “bad” movie and this time around it’s the new Terminator flick.
“I haven’t seen the new one yet so that’s on the cards tonight,” Harrington said after a 69 moved him to three under par.
Told the reviews were terrible, he protested: “Who cares! It’s entertainment.”
The bad news for the Dubliner is that Terminator Genisys wasn’t playing at the New Picture House in St Andrews’ main street and he was limited to Amy, Ant-Man 3D, Jurassic World and Ted 2.
No doubt “he’ll be back.”
Stat of the day
No one birdied the 17th during Thursday’s first round but it didn’t take long for someone to make a rare three yesterday.
Playing in the first group of the day, South African Jaco Van Zyl birdied en route to a 69.
“Hit a good drive down there,” he said. “I think it was 195 yards. Hit a nice little stinger three-iron to about 20-foot and rolled it in.
“I don't think too many people were going to birdie it yesterday with a three-shot par-four, and kind of helps when you're the first group out.”
After an opening 79, the 36-year old is four over and praying for high winds so he can make the cut.
Green fingers
It was all hands on deck at St Andrews on Friday morning as torrential rain flooded the Old Course and forced play to be suspended for three hours.
Head Greenkeeper Gordon Moir usually has just 14 staff and six season greenkeepers but for The Open he’s got 65 and needed them all yesterday to squeegee the water off the course.
Even with the rain the greens were rolling at just over 10 on the stimpmeter.
Weather warning
Making the cut will be even tougher today with weathermen forecasting 25mph winds, gusting to 40mph with isolated gusts of 45mph at midday.
With light southeast winds and little rain expected tomorrow (Sunday), it could be a birdie fest.
Low key Zach
Zach Johnson could be the dark horse there punters are looking for this week.
The former Masters winner is two shots behind clubhouse leader Danny Willett on seven under after a 71 and loving his position.
Reminded that he pushed Jordan Spieth all the way ion the John Deere Classic last week, he said: “I kind of feel like I'm always under the radar. I'll let you guys determine that. I think the media drives this
“Granted, the scorecard is obviously a big part of that and I'm not saying I deserve anything more or less.
“But I've had some decent success over here, nothing significant. Maybe a couple of top 10s, maybe three or four. I'm not even sure. But I love the game over here. I love this tournament.”
Rory trumps Spieth
The European Tour website has been polling its visitors about Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
They posed the question: Who will win more majors?
The answer: McIlroy with 54% to Spieth’s 46%.
If the American wins here, that result could change fast.
