British Open 2018 live blog: Rickie Fowler making early charge on Friday at Carnoustie
All times local to Carnoustie. 4:13 p.m.: Putts are starting to fall for everybody on Friday, including Jordan Spieth, who just drained one from deep at the fifth for his second birdie in three holes. The reigning Open Champion is now in red figures at one under overall, which puts him six back of Kevin Kisner, who just made his fourth birdie of the round at 13. On Thursday, he began a run of three straight birdies on this stretch. More of the same would give him a nice little cushion as he heads to Carnoustie's closing stretch. One of the longer putts we've seen all week was just holed by Pat Perez. Double P is two under on his round, four under overall and officially lurking. This is just his second Open Championship start in the last decade.
Matt Kuchar makes his first birdie of the day at No. 6, a chip-in from a green side bunker. Kuuuuch is also lurking at two under for the championship. Back at the fifth, Rickie Fowler lips out for what would have been is fourth birdie of the day. Putter is rolling very nicely for Fowler so far. 4:06 p.m.: After a quiet one-under 70 on Thursday, it's taken Rickie Fowler all of four holes to vault up the board. He just made his third birdie of the day at the par-4 fourth, which gets him to within two shots of Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner's lead. We say this at every major, but is it finally "his week" ? 3:45 p.m.: The highs and lows of Jon Rahm are on full display early, as the young Spaniard bombed a drive at the first and then hit a wedge tight for a birdie. On the very next hole, he gave it right back with a bogey, but then stuck another one tight at the third and converted for his second birdie to get back to three under. The guy is never not exciting to watch. Same goes for his playing partner Rickie Fowler, who just made his second birdie at the third to move to two under on his round, three under for the championship. Tiger Woods just mentioned in his post-round interview that he believes "six or seven" under is out there this afternoon. Don't be surprised if Fowler and Rahm make those words sound prophetic. Speaking of highs and lows, we were just treated to one of Jordan Spieth's highs of the week so far, a ridiculous birdie chip-in at the third that was even better than his bold play at the eighth hole on Thursday. That gets him back to level par for the tournament. Phil Mickelson, the 2013 Open champion at Muirfield, has recorded his first birdie at the fourth to join the growing group on one under, but drove into a bunker at the next to hand that shot back. The left-hander found more trouble pulling his approach to the sixth into deep rough and after chopping out to the fringe of the green he left his birdie attempt just short. Van Rooyen turned in 33, two better than Southgate, but his playing partner made the first move on the back nine with birdies at 10 and 11. The South African responded with a birdie of his own at 11 to maintain his one-shot lead at four under. Willett, whose group were told on the ninth hole they were being put on the clock, turned at two under but a 15-foot birdie putt at the 10th moved the Yorkshireman alongside Southgate on three under.
Quite the morning for Jhonattan Vegas. He turned up at Glasgow Airport 55 minutes ago after visa problems without his clubs and had to be helicoptered to the course. He's getting some much-needed practice in with an unfamiliar set of clubs ahead of ahead of a 10.31 tee time. 1 day ago The defending champion is on the tee. Jordan Spieth is playing in a strong group with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose. Spieth is down the right but fortunately pulls up just ahead of a bunker. Rose finds the fairway on the left side. Aphibarnrat (looking for a first made cut at The Open) unleashes a drive and very nearly reaches the green. 1 day ago Carnoustie is far from Car-nasty this year. The extended period of warm weather has resulted in a rock-hard course ripe for low-scoring one generally doesn't associate with the course. The greens are green, but the fairways are yellow and extremely fast.
Quite the morning for Jhonattan Vegas. He turned up at Glasgow Airport 55 minutes ago after visa problems without his clubs and had to be helicoptered to the course. He's getting some much-needed practice in with an unfamiliar set of clubs ahead of ahead of a 10.31 tee time. 1 day ago The defending champion is on the tee. Jordan Spieth is playing in a strong group with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose. Spieth is down the right but fortunately pulls up just ahead of a bunker. Rose finds the fairway on the left side. Aphibarnrat (looking for a first made cut at The Open) unleashes a drive and very nearly reaches the green. 1 day ago Carnoustie is far from Car-nasty this year. The extended period of warm weather has resulted in a rock-hard course ripe for low-scoring one generally doesn't associate with the course. The greens are green, but the fairways are yellow and extremely fast.
o what did we learn after the opening 18 holes of the Open Championship? A baked-out Carnoustie Golf Links, with no wind, will yield red numbers—although not quite as much red as other links courses. Kevin Kisner’s 66 was impressive, but if the calm conditions that greeted players on Thursday were seen at other venues on the Open rota, 63s would likely have been the order of the day. Meanwhile, the forecast for Friday calls for darker skies, spots of rain and a generally more Open Championship atmosphere for the Open Championship. So, what does that mean for the second round? In theory, players in the morning wave—most notably Tiger Woods (10:20 a.m. tee time), Rory McIlroy (7:52), Justin Thomas (8:25), Dustin Johnson (8:03) and Brooks Koepka (9:58)—might wind up seeing that they are this year’s hard luck golfers stuck on the “wrong side” of the draw. That’s just fine with the likes of Kisner, who tees off at 12:53 p.m. In the meantime, the rest of the field will still be trying to figure how to attack Carnoustie in hopes of finds a secret that can propel them into the weekend. Once again, sit back, relax and stick with us here for the latest scores and highlights from Day 2.
Matt Kuchar makes his first birdie of the day at No. 6, a chip-in from a green side bunker. Kuuuuch is also lurking at two under for the championship. Back at the fifth, Rickie Fowler lips out for what would have been is fourth birdie of the day. Putter is rolling very nicely for Fowler so far. 4:06 p.m.: After a quiet one-under 70 on Thursday, it's taken Rickie Fowler all of four holes to vault up the board. He just made his third birdie of the day at the par-4 fourth, which gets him to within two shots of Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner's lead. We say this at every major, but is it finally "his week" ? 3:45 p.m.: The highs and lows of Jon Rahm are on full display early, as the young Spaniard bombed a drive at the first and then hit a wedge tight for a birdie. On the very next hole, he gave it right back with a bogey, but then stuck another one tight at the third and converted for his second birdie to get back to three under. The guy is never not exciting to watch. Same goes for his playing partner Rickie Fowler, who just made his second birdie at the third to move to two under on his round, three under for the championship. Tiger Woods just mentioned in his post-round interview that he believes "six or seven" under is out there this afternoon. Don't be surprised if Fowler and Rahm make those words sound prophetic. Speaking of highs and lows, we were just treated to one of Jordan Spieth's highs of the week so far, a ridiculous birdie chip-in at the third that was even better than his bold play at the eighth hole on Thursday. That gets him back to level par for the tournament. Phil Mickelson, the 2013 Open champion at Muirfield, has recorded his first birdie at the fourth to join the growing group on one under, but drove into a bunker at the next to hand that shot back. The left-hander found more trouble pulling his approach to the sixth into deep rough and after chopping out to the fringe of the green he left his birdie attempt just short. Van Rooyen turned in 33, two better than Southgate, but his playing partner made the first move on the back nine with birdies at 10 and 11. The South African responded with a birdie of his own at 11 to maintain his one-shot lead at four under. Willett, whose group were told on the ninth hole they were being put on the clock, turned at two under but a 15-foot birdie putt at the 10th moved the Yorkshireman alongside Southgate on three under.
Quite the morning for Jhonattan Vegas. He turned up at Glasgow Airport 55 minutes ago after visa problems without his clubs and had to be helicoptered to the course. He's getting some much-needed practice in with an unfamiliar set of clubs ahead of ahead of a 10.31 tee time. 1 day ago The defending champion is on the tee. Jordan Spieth is playing in a strong group with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose. Spieth is down the right but fortunately pulls up just ahead of a bunker. Rose finds the fairway on the left side. Aphibarnrat (looking for a first made cut at The Open) unleashes a drive and very nearly reaches the green. 1 day ago Carnoustie is far from Car-nasty this year. The extended period of warm weather has resulted in a rock-hard course ripe for low-scoring one generally doesn't associate with the course. The greens are green, but the fairways are yellow and extremely fast.
Quite the morning for Jhonattan Vegas. He turned up at Glasgow Airport 55 minutes ago after visa problems without his clubs and had to be helicoptered to the course. He's getting some much-needed practice in with an unfamiliar set of clubs ahead of ahead of a 10.31 tee time. 1 day ago The defending champion is on the tee. Jordan Spieth is playing in a strong group with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose. Spieth is down the right but fortunately pulls up just ahead of a bunker. Rose finds the fairway on the left side. Aphibarnrat (looking for a first made cut at The Open) unleashes a drive and very nearly reaches the green. 1 day ago Carnoustie is far from Car-nasty this year. The extended period of warm weather has resulted in a rock-hard course ripe for low-scoring one generally doesn't associate with the course. The greens are green, but the fairways are yellow and extremely fast.
Quite the morning for Jhonattan Vegas. He turned up at Glasgow Airport 55 minutes ago after visa problems without his clubs and had to be helicoptered to the course. He's getting some much-needed practice in with an unfamiliar set of clubs ahead of ahead of a 10.31 tee time.
The defending champion is on the tee. Jordan Spieth is playing in a strong group with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose.
Spieth is down the right but fortunately pulls up just ahead of a bunker. Rose finds the fairway on the left side. Aphibarnrat (looking for a first made cut at The Open) unleashes a drive and very nearly reaches the green.
