The Open: Marc Leishman only Aussie to make cut as tough conditions test world's best at Royal Portrush
It's tough to hit fairways at Portrush. And getting into the rough can destroy a round in a heartbeat.
It grades from long, chunky rough where you can still play a recovery shot — often just a low runner along the ground — to fescue which is unpredictable and leads to flyers or pulls.
Big-name scorecards suffered, with Adam Scott's second-round 79, Tom Hoge's 81 on Thursday and Bryson DeChambeau's opening round 78 glaring examples of world-class players failing the stern test.
At least DeChambeau fought back with a stunning 65 to jump 91 places and make the cut.
Nine Australians started their chase for The Open Championship on Thursday but just one, Marc Leishman, will play all four rounds.
Leishman was the only Aussie under par heading into the weekend after taking advantage of the stiller morning conditions on Friday to fire a second round 68.
Scott was still in the hunt when he teed off on Friday morning in his 96th consecutive major after a first round 72. However, double bogeys at 3, 11 and 16 destroyed his charge.
The 215-metre par-three 16th surrounded by dense rough lived up to its 'calamity corner' and 'card wrecker' monikers as the winds picked up and rain teemed down for the later starters.
It was compulsive viewing and hundreds of locals grabbed prime spots early to watch the carnage unfold.
Of the other Aussies, world No.30 Jason Day missed the cut by one shot while 23-year-old Elvis Smylie and Lucas Herbert will also be heading home early. And the three-man West Australian contingent — Min Woo Lee (five-over-par) and Open debutants Curtis Luck and Ryan Peake (both eight-over) — all missed the cut.
For Lee it was his third missed cut in five Open appearances, continuing a moderate record with a best finish of tied 21st in 2022.
'It's a course where it can bite you in the butt pretty quickly. So yeah, I didn't obviously play too good,' Lee said after his second round.
Luck had no luck with the draw, hitting off in the second last group in Thursday's opening round, not teeing off until after 4pm local time and carding an 80 to effectively end his chances. He fared much better on Friday with a 70.
Peake played alongside multiple major champion Phil Mickelson, who attracted a strong gallery from the word go just after 7am on Thursday. After a nervy start, he was far from disgraced with a 77 and showed his grit with a second round 73, much of it played in driving rain.
'I'll reflect on the experience later down the track, but it was disappointing not playing the weekend,' Peake said
The former star junior golfer turned Rebels bikie who was jailed for assault before rediscovering his love for the game said he enjoyed playing alongside fellow left-hander Mickelson, the 55-year-old qualifying for the weekend again after finishing at even-par.
'Playing with Phil obviously was great,' he said.
'I was trying to play my game as well, but he was friendly, he was chatting,.'
Cameron Smith, the 2022 champion, was erratic off the tee and finished tied 138th alongside Luck and Peake on eight-over.
Northern Irish home favourite Rory McIlroy was fortunate to avoid the teeming rain in Thursday's opening round and somehow able to keep his nerves in check to fire a one-under-par 70. He followed it with a 69 in the second round to ensure he'll play the weekend at Portrush this time after missing the cut here in 2019.
Inside the ropes with the McIlroy group provided but an amazing glimpse of the adoration the Irish and Northern Irish fans have for the champion Ulsterman.
And the enormous pressure from scores of fans.
On Thursday, he had to delay his initial tee shot on the 1st because the cheering of the fans went on so long. It felt like they were finally congratulating him for the Masters win in person. But then total silence as thousands watched him pull his long iron left into the fescue and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
That opening tee shot was as nerve-wracking as it gets for McIlroy after he hit it out-of-bounds in 2019 at Portrush on his way to a quadruple bogey and missed cut.
And it was typical of McIlroy to miss a short putt on that same hole and make bogey. While he grimaced the fans' audible disappointment must have been hard to wear for McIlroy.
Constant calls of 'c'mon Rory, c'mon Rory' were relentless from the 20-deep galleries around the greens, fairways and tees.
Fans were even 10-deep in the hospitality areas 50m away and as loud as any football match as McIlroy left the green for the next tee box.
When he sunk a remarkable birdie on the second hole the full-throttled Rory Roar was off the charts.
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