Irish blown off course as Watson dream lives on

British Open update:Turnberry turned from a pussycat into a beast today — but while Tiger Woods was becoming one of its victims the incredible Tom Watson was still going merrily along. While the world number one faced the likely prospect of missing only his second halfway cut in 49 majors as a professional — the 59-year-old sank late birdie putts of 50 and 60 feet to join fellow American Steve Marino in the clubhouse lead on five under.

Five Irish golfers made the cut, with Graeme McDowell best placed on one over after he carded a three-over 73 in his second round. Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke are a shot further back after they both signed for 71, while two-time defending champion Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy are side by side on three over after they posted 74s.

Five-time champion Watson, back on the course where he won in 1977, added a level-par 70 in the wind and rain to add to his opening 65.

The 50-foot putt came on the 16th, but the cheer which greeted it was nothing compared to the roar which came on the final green.

Watson is playing his 32nd Open. Marino is playing his first — but that did not stop Ben Curtis winning at Sandwich six years ago.

The 29-year-old is on his first trip to Britain and a week ago he was not even in the field.

He has never won a US Tour title, but was in a play-off in May, stands 77th in the world and is a star in the making according to 1989 winner Mark Calcavecchia, who lies just a stroke behind.

“He really doesn’t have any weaknesses that I’ve seen,” said 49-year-old Calcavecchia, like Watson trying to become the oldest major winner in history.

“He’s a great kid and got a ton of talent. He’s going to win soon and it may even be this week.”

Harrington suffered like most of the early starters on day two of the as Turnberry woke with a scowl on its face after the benign conditions of the opening round.

The run from the fifth to the turn was particularly tough, playing into the prevailing win and Harrington would drop shots on the fifth and three in a row from the eight to move over par for the tournament.

A further shot would go on the 13th, with Harrington picking up his only birdie of the day at the par-five 17th to ease his nerves going down the last. A par there was good enough to continue hopes of a hat-trick of Open titles.

McIlroy also opened with a one-under 69 and he improved his position straight away this morning with a birdie at the first. It would prove a false dawn for the 20-year-old from Holywood, as bogeys at the second, fourth and eight and a double-bogey six at the fifth brought him to turn in 39 shots.

Another bogey at ten pushed him out to four over and although he recorded his second birdie of the day at the 13th, he would hand it straight back at the next hole. Like Harrington, he would birdie the 17th and par the last to guarantee a weekend berth.

McGinley added a second straight 71 thanks to a fine inward half of two-under 33. His morning started in terrible fashion with three bogeys in the first five holes as he slipped to four over.

With the wind helping on the back nine, he would birdie the 12th, 14th and 17th before a bogey at the last prevented him from a carding a level-par round.

There was to be no miraculous recoveries for David Higgins and Damien McGrane as their time on the Ayrshire coast came to an end.

Qualifier Higgins shot a 75 to finish on eighth over, while McGrane hit 74 to finish on 12 over.

First-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez could add only a 73 to his 64, but England’s Ross Fisher, whose wife could go into labour at any time, improved to the same three-under total with a 68.

In the clubhouse alongside them were twice US Open champion Retief Goosen and Japan’s Kenichi Kuboya.

Lee Westwood, playing with Woods, was still in the hunt at one under, part of a group which also included Sergio Garcia and German Martin Kaymer, winner of the last two European Tour events.

Former champion Ben Curtis started the day one off the lead but slumped to an 80 which included eight bogeys and two double bogeys.

Playing partner Mike Weir was also five over after a round of 78, most of the damage done by an eight on the par-five seventh, which had been the easiest hole on the course yesterday.

And Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo carded a round of 79 which included a double-bogey six on the 10th where he played his second shot from the beach to the left of the fairway.

Others to miss the cut include former champions Geoff Ogilvy, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and David Duval, while Geoff Ogilvy and Ian Poulter are also heading home.

SCOREBOARD AND TEE TIMES
2nd Rd (Par 70, Gbr & Irl unless stated, (x) denotes amateurs)

135Steve Marino (USA) 67 68, Tom Watson (USA) 65 70

136Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 67 69

137Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 70, Ross Fisher 69 68, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 64 73, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 65 72

138JB Holmes (USA) 68 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 66 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 67 71, Stewart Cink (USA) 66 72, Lee Westwood 68 70

139Jeff Overton (USA) 70 69, Jim Furyk (USA) 67 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 70, Boo Weekley (USA) 67 72, Branden Grace (Rsa) 67 72

140Anthony Wall 68 72, John Daly (USA) 68 72, Justin Leonard (USA) 70 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 68 72, Nick Dougherty 70 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 73, Chris Wood 70 70

141Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 70, Graeme McDowell 68 73, Zach Johnson (USA) 70 71, David Howell 68 73, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 71 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 71, Justin Rose 69 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 72, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 70

142Billy Mayfair (USA) 69 73, Oliver Wilson 72 70, Davis Love III (USA) 69 73,
Kevin Sutherland (USA) 69 73, Tom Lehman (USA) 68 74, Darren Clarke 71 71, Paul
Broadhurst 70 72, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 72, David Drysdale 69 73, Fredrik
Jacobson (Swe) 70 72, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 74, Paul McGinley 71 71

143Bryce Molder (USA) 70 73, Steve Stricker (USA) 66 77, Nick Watney (USA) 71
72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 72, Daniel Gaunt (Aus) 76 67, Kenny Perry (USA) 71 72,
Rory McIlroy 69 74, Sean O'Hair (USA) 68 75, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 74 69, Luke
Donald 71 72, Padraig Harrington 69 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 72

144Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 76, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 73, Graeme Storm 72 72,
Paul Goydos (USA) 72 72, Mark O'Meara (USA) 67 77, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 74,
Paul Lawrie 71 73, Paul Casey 68 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73

MISSED CUT

145Tiger Woods (USA) 71 74, Charley Hoffman (USA) 71 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 68 77, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 74, Colin Montgomerie 71 74, Todd Hamilton (USA) 75 70, Ben Curtis (USA) 65 80, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 74, Josh Geary (Nzl) 70 75, Mike Weir (Can) 67 78, D.J. Trahan (USA) 68 77

146John Senden (Aus) 66 80, Peter Baker 74 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 76, Matt Kuchar (USA) 70 76, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 68 78, Anthony Kim (USA) 73 73, K J Choi (Kor) 74 72, Elliot Saltman 70 76, Briny Baird (USA) 72 74, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 75, Martin Laird 74 72, Ben Crane (USA) 71 75

147Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 76, David Toms (USA) 72 75, David Duval (USA) 71 76, Rhys Davies 73 74, Mark Brown (Nzl) 71 76, James Driscoll (USA) 76 71, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 76 71, Richard Green (Aus) 71 76, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 73

148Robert Rock 73 75, Gary Orr 73 75, Bubba Watson (USA) 73 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 75 73, Charles Howell III (USA) 73 75, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 77, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 71 77, David Higgins 73 75, Sandy Lyle 75 73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 73 75, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 77

149Richie Ramsay 77 72, Azuma Yano (Jpn) 75 74, David Smail (Nzl) 70 79, Stephan Gross (Ger) 74 75, Lucas Glover (USA) 72 77, Brian Gay (USA) 73 76, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 77 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 77, Stephen Ames (Can) 72 77, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 72 77

150Timothy Wood (Aus) 73 77, Chad Campbell (USA) 73 77, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 71 79, Ken Duke (USA) 71 79, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 82, Steve Surry 69 81

151Hunter Mahan (USA) 72 79, Nick Faldo 78 73, Jeremy Kavanagh 74 77, Richard Finch 73 78, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 77, Tim Stewart (Aus) 74 77, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 75 76

152 Damien McGrane 78 74, Greg Norman (Aus) 77 75, Lloyd Saltman 75 77, Thomas Haylock 74 78

153Bruce Vaughan (USA) 78 75, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 78

154Dustin Johnson (USA) 78 76, Koumei Oda (Jpn) 76 78, Ian Poulter 75 79

155Daniel Wardrop 75 80

156Michael Wright (Aus) 77 79

157Oliver Fisher 79 78

160Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 79 81

161Peter Ellebye (Den) 77 84

162Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 83 79

RetMichael Campbell (Nzl) 78


THIRD ROUND TEE TIMES
8:40Johan Edfors
8:50Robert Allenby, Mark O'Meara

9:00Graeme Storm, Thomas Levet
9:10Paul Goydos, Paul Lawrie
9:20Paul Casey, Soren Kjeldsen
9:30Bryce Molder, Luke Donald
9:40Sean O'Hair, Steve Stricker
9:55Kenny Perry, Nick Watney

10:05Thomas Aiken, Stuart Appleby
10:15 Padraig Harrington,Ryuji Imada
10:25 Rory McIlroy, Daniel Gaunt
10:35Billy Mayfair, Darren Clarke
10:45Oliver Wilson, Paul Broadhurst
10:55David Drysdale, Kevin Sutherland

11:05Richard S Johnson, Fredrik Jacobson
11:20Tom Lehman, Paul McGinley
11:30Davis Love III, Andres Romero
11:40Thongchai Jaidee, David Howell
11:50Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Graeme McDowell
12:00Peter Hanson, Matteo Manassero

12:10Henrik Stenson, Fredrik Andersson Hed
12:20Francesco Molinari, Zach Johnnson
12:35Justin Rose, Ernie Els
12:45Chris Wood, Justin Leonard
12:55Nick Dougherty, Anthony Wal
l
13:05Richard Sterne, John Daly
13:15Soren Hansen, Branden Grace
13:25Boo Weekley, Camilo Villegas
13:35Sergio Garcia, Jeff Overton
13:45Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera

14:00Martin Kaymer, Mathew Goggin
14:10Stewart Cink, Lee Wwestwood
14:20James Kingston, JB Holmes
14:30Vijay Singh, Kenichi Kuboya
14:40Miguel Angel Jimenez, Retief Goosen
14:50Ross Fisher, Mark Calcavecchia
15:00Tom Watson, Steve Marino