Darren Clarke’s words for Tiger Woods: The ball doesn’t know who’s hitting it
“It’s a hard game and the golf ball doesn’t know who’s hitting it,” Clarke said.
“He is happy with what he is doing and he feels he is playing really well and maybe he is pushing a little bit too hard.
“It’s a tough game if things aren’t going your way and things aren’t going his way.”
Paul Lawrie roared into the mix with a 66 and confessed that Arnold Palmer was an inspiration.
“It was unbelievably cool to play with him yesterday,” the 1999 champion said of the Champion Golfers’ Challenge alongside the King, Darren Clarke and Bill Rogers. “Just to be out there playing with him, I absolutely loved it. Clarke and I had a whale of a time.”
Tom Watson is playing in his final Open but even the Kansas legend reckons he’s not as wrinkled as the Tom Watson masks he saw on Thursday.
Asked about the fans wearing the masks, 65-year old Watson joked: “Those are ugly masks. I told them there’s way to many wrinkles in those masks. It kind of scared me looking at those thing, geez, look at those things. That guy is ugly.”
Retief Goosen reckons his luck is changing after he opened with a sizzling 66 at St Andrews.
The two-time US Open winner only scraped into the field after play-off at Worburn, where Paul Dunne won the qualifier.
Goosen said: “Maybe there is something good coming. I got lucky in the play-off with all three of us hitting horrible tee shots, and I hit mine out of the rough to 10 feet and they struggled. Maybe it’s something good coming.”
Lee Westwood bogeyed the last three holes for a 71 then braced himself for today’s rain storms.
He said: “None of us like playing in rain, but I think you want a 15, 20mph wind blowing on this golf course, otherwise the players just murder it.”
According to ESPN, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods have played 19 rounds in same tournament this year. Spieth is 110 strokes better.
Dustin Johnson is such a big hitter that he used a wedge on all but three of the St Andrews’ 14 par fours.
The American said two of the holes where he hit more than wedge were playing into the wind but on the other one he was just off green and putted.
After 9 hours and 41 minutes, the final group of the day has now teed off. Which means only one thing: Ivor Robson can now use the restroom.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGolf) July 16, 2015
“Beyond disappointing to play well today and not hole putts that you expect to,” Ian Poulter tweeted after his 73. “Difficult game when the longest putt holed was 6ft #Gutted.”
