The Open leaderboard http://www.theopen.com/Leaderboard#!/traditional
Grey skies and a blustery wind greeted the players at Royal Troon this morning with Phil Mickelson at -10 in the lead followed by Henrik Stenson at -9.
They are still in bed..not playing until 320pm local time, that's 1020am EST
Nobody in yesterday's late wave including big 3 made up much ground on these two. Rory is 69 71 -2, Jordan Spieth is nowhere near his dominating form of 2014, 71 75 +4, Jason Day 73 70 +1.
Dustin Johnson is 71 69 -2 but really Keegan Bradley and Soren Kjeldsen 67 68 -7 are the one's closest albeit with 2 full days to go, and a Royal Troon lurking in the wind to play for.
The way I see it it is up to one of these guys to make a move today, or Phil or Henrik and his Friday best 65, to move back toward the field with a poor round to make a real game of it.
Defending champion Zach Johnson is at -5 67 70 and 5 guys including Sergio Garcia are in a group at -4.
The weather is always crucial at The Open. The 14 players at the head of the scoreboard all played Friday morning in calmer conditions and further there are just 26 players under par as play begins today and only four of them played in the afternoon.
It is windy this morning, gusting to 20mph from the WSW not the normal wind from the NE..http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gcuevyzxs
The rain is listed at 50% starting around 4pm local time, just when Phil and Henrik are on the 2nd tee so they may get the worst of it today.
At the Open getting the good side of the tee times is crucial. For example Spieth battled through the worst of the elements to play the final six holes in even par for a 75 to finish at +4 146 just where the cut fell.
"It’s tough when we all realize before we go out that you’re kind of what would be the bad end of the draw before you even play your second round,”
McIlroy played well enough but like everyone trailing, the weather and a few loose shots cost him as he dropped four shots in five holes and his even par finds him 8 shots back.
So it will be fascinating to see what happens today, the traditional moving day. Mickelson came over to Scotland to play the Scottish Open last week and closed the week with a 65 and is playing well and relishing the moment and remember in 2013 he won the Scottish before winning the Open at Muirfield, so he has that under his belt, but then again he is Phil, likely to do something daft and take a triple bogey to let the field back in..
Of the early starts this morning including Spieth and Bubba there are more blue numbers (par or worse) than red (under par)
More to follow..
Bryan Angus
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