Friday, July 19, 2013

British Open Day 2 Wrap-Up

Thanks to Eric for the coverage of Tiger's round.

On a brutally difficult day at Muirfield, where the greens played as if they were concrete, an exceptionally strong leaderboard emerged.  The leaders constitute a true who's who of modern golf, although big names Justin Rose (+10), Luke Donald (+10), and Rory McIlroy (+12!) won't be around for the weekend.

Given that the top of leaderboard is so crowded, and there are so many good players at the top, it is exceptionally difficult to predict what will happen.  I will note, however, that recent majors have been nominated by talented non-Americans winning their first major -- and that Jimenez, Stenson, and Westwood would all fit that category.

In the meantime, spare a thought for Shiv Kapur of India, who played the first nine holes of this tournament in six under par, and who has played the last 27 holes in nine over par.

Also, spare a thought for Vandy's own Brandt Snedeker, the pride of Nashville, who was 3-under par for the tournament after 27 holes, and who played the last nine holes today in eight over par to put himself completely out of contention.  Amazingly, his eight-over 43 on the back nine included a birdie.  He had a double-bogey on 10, a birdie on 12, bogeys on 13 and 14, a triple-bogey on 14, and another double-bogey on 18.  Anyway, this was going to happen to Snedeker at some point, and at least it didn't happen on Sunday.

We normally do the top 10, but because this leaderboard is so crowded, and so good, we're going to do the top 19 this time:

1.  M.A. Jimenez (ESP):  -3 (68+71=139)

T2.  H. Stenson (SWE):  -2 (70+70=140)
T2.  L. Westwood (ENG):  -2 (72+68=140)
T2.  T. Woods-2 (69+71=140)
T2.  D. Johnson-2 (68+72=140)

T6.  M. Laird (SCO):  -1 (70+71=141)
T6.  R. Cabrera-Bello (ESP):  -1 (67+74=141)
T6.  Z. Johnson-1 (66+75=141)
T6.  A. Cabrera (ARG):  -1 (69+72=141)

10.  R. MooreEven (72+70=142)

T11.  J. Spieth+1 (69+74=143)
T11.  D. Clarke (NIR):  +1 (72+71=143)
T11.  C. Schwartzel (RSA):  +1 (75+68=143)
T11.  A. Scott (AUS):  +1 (71+72=143)
T11.  W. Simpson+1 (73+70=143)
T11.  F. Molinari (ITA):  +1 (69+74=143)
T11.  B. Watson+1 (70+73=143)
T11.  I. Poulter (ENG):  +1 (72+71=143)
T11.  P. Mickelson+1 (69+74=143)

4 comments:

  1. Because of my participation in the HeathPostdotcom Yahoo! Fantasy Golf league and discovery of the live video feeds available for various tournaments, I've paid more attention to golf than ever this year. And as it pretty much always goes, I've come to fall in love with Phil Mickelson as I've spent more time with him. Anyway, Phil of San Diego, Calif., has opened the third round in par, birdie and par to move to even and T10 for the tournament.

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  2. Now that Brandt Snedeker has been eliminated from competition, he was able to shoot a very pleasant 69. So he is 3 over par for the tournament.

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