History beckons for big stars at The Open Championship

SANDWICH, England – Louis Oosthuizen took a deep breath after signing his scorecard and put on his best blank face before exiting the scoring area to face a myriad of media stops at The 149th Open.

The South African is halfway to what would no doubt be an incredibly well-received second Open and major title after backing up a 64 with a second round 5-under 65 at Royal St. George’s – notching up a 36-hole record at 11-under 129.

He knew what was coming. The same questions. Those bloody same questions about routinely being the groomsmen rather than the groom himself. Deep down it has to feel like nails on a chalkboard.

But the pause – and collection of composure of thoughts – was certainly deliberate. Oosthuizen is a glass half full guy. Not half empty. And he knew he needed to just power through the commitments. Besides – if he’s hearing them again it means he’s playing well.

It is no secret the 38-year-old has finished runner up in majors six times since his maiden major win at the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews. This includes the PGA Championship from May and the U.S. Open in June this year. He has also been second at THE PLAYERS in the past.

This time he is once again very well poised. But the names lining up right behind him are certainly nerve inducing.

Oosthuizen has a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa (64) and is three clear of 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth (67). World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (65) is part of a three-way tie for fourth just four shots back. This won’t be handed to him no matter how much he deserves it.

When the question about his “frustration” came as expected Oosthuizen went on the front foot.

“It’s more inspiration I would say, knowing that I can still compete in majors. I just need to pull it through and see if I can go one better on this weekend,” he said.

“The game is good, but I know it's a really good leaderboard. I have to play good golf this weekend if I want to come out first.”

In May, it was Phil Mickelson who bested Oosthuizen. The killer blow coming when he found water with his third shot into a par 4 down the stretch. In June he was playing solidly until Jon Rahm made back-to-back birdies to finish and with the feeling he needed to push a wayward drive on the penultimate hole found a canyon.

It’s all in the experience bank now.

“In a few of them I needed to play just that little bit better coming down the stretch,” he conceded noting a need for aggression at times.

“Right now I think where my game is at, I just need to put myself in position, and this year is the best I've been putting, and I just need to hit greens and give myself any opportunities for birdies.”

Should Oosthuizen win on Sunday he would join Julius Boros as players to wait 11 years between their first and second majors. Boros will keep the record though – by nine days.

Records are there for the challengers also.

Morikawa’s 64 in the morning wave posted the lowest 36 holes in an Open at Royal St. George’s (131) only for Oosthuizen to take it just hours later. All that would be forgotten if he wins on his Open Championship debut and become the first player to win two separate majors at their first attempt.

He will also look to emulate Ben Curtis – the last player to win an Open on debut – who coincidentally won at Royal St. George’s in 2003.

Willie Park Sr (1860), Tom Kidd (1873), Mungo Park (1874), Jock Hutchison (1921), Denny Shute (1933), Ben Hogan (1953), Tony Lema (1964) and Tom Watson (1975) are the only players pre Curtis to all win The Open on debut.

On Friday he played with wisdom beyond his experience, noting some of his impressive par saves were perhaps more important than his seven birdies.

“Out here in links golf you're going to hit bad shots. You're going to hit bad approach shots, bad tee shots,” he said. “To see the par save on 13 I'm really going to draw on that for the rest of the week because sometimes you have to just bite your tongue, play safe, and try and make par best you can. Sometimes bogey is going to be your friend.”

Spieth concurs with Morikawa, especially as he believes officials have been nice in the opening two rounds, but won’t be as accommodating over the weekend.

“These pin locations, though, they may not look so tricky on television, but a lot of them are on crowns and knobs and they've left a lot of opportunities to make them very, very subtly challenging,” Spieth warns,

“I think that that's what's going to happen, which will obviously make it a little bit harder to make putts or get balls really close to the hole. They made it a good mix with some fun pins these first couple days.”

Spieth joined the lead at the 12th hole but faded from there. His 1-under 34 on the back nine was bettered, or equaled by, the top 15 on the leaderboard.

“Those last six holes were kind of frustrating. I think I need to bring more food on the golf course tomorrow. I really just got in a weird head space, like fatigued there on the 13th green as we were waiting and hitting putts,” Spieth said.

“I just didn't stay focused like I was early in the round. Wasn't very sharp. It's an easy solution for tomorrow. But the finish on 18 probably securing a second to last group on a Sunday is a good position to be in.”

And then, there lurking, is Johnson. The two-time major winner seeks a third leg of the career slam.

“Obviously I feel like I'm in a good position heading into the weekend,” Johnson said.

“The course is definitely firming up. It was firmer this afternoon and it's definitely going to keep getting firmer if the weather stays like this. I like the position I'm in going into the weekend. Still going to have to play some really good golf if I want to contend on Sunday.”