British Open scores 2017: Jordan Spieth pushes lead to 2 strokes in tough conditions
Just eight golfers shot rounds under par during the second day at the Open.
With winds up to 35 mph and rain that caused R&A officials to call a 15-minute break in play while the greens were squeegeed, Jordan Spieth broke free of a three-way tie at the Open Championship to take a two-stroke lead. Just eight of 156 golfers posted rounds below par for the day at Royal Birkdale.
“There was a couple periods where it was as bad as we had last year on Friday (at the Open),” Spieth said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “It was off and on. Overall it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. We thought it was going to be constant rain, sideways rain, sheets of rain. ... We got a horn to blow, and we got some favorable conditions for an hour at a time here or there.”
Conditions really were awful, with wind causing all sorts of problems. Play was paused at 5:30 p.m. local time, though officials allowed golfers to finish the holes they were playing if they so chose.
Spieth was one of the eight who managed a sub-par round, finishing at 1-under 69 to post 6-under 134 across the first two days. He birdied the second hole but made the turn at 1-over 35 after a bogey on the ninth. He pushed his overall lead to as many as three strokes on the 15th; however, his second shot seemingly ran forever and set up a nice eagle attempt that he sank to go 2-under for the day and 7-under for the Open.
The cut was set at 5-over 145. Phil Mickelson was one of the most notable players to miss the cut, shooting 10-over 150. Justin Rose and Jason Day both narrowly made it, both at 5-over.
Meanwhile the top of the leaderboard looks pretty familiar. Matt Kuchar, one of the two golfers tied after Thursday’s round, trails at 4-under. Brooks Koepka, the other, was a victim of the course, falling off the pace a bit at 3-under, tied with Ian Poulter.
The big mover for the day, though, was Rory McIlroy. He shot 2-under for the day to move up 52 spots to T6. His Open began poorly on Thursday when he posted five bogeys across the first six holes, but he ran off seven straight birdies during his next 18 holes or so to get back into contention. McIlroy bogeyed twice on the back nine before a birdie on 17 gave him one of the best scores of the day.
Zach Johnson was the biggest mover, shooting 4-under to jump 100 places. He stands at 1-over through two days.
With Spieth a strong closer when he enters the weekend with a lead — the 2016 Masters notwithstanding — there’s a lot of work to be done by his competitors.