Well the wind was blowing, the rain circled around, and a former Open champion and and a former top ten player showed just why Turnberry is so tough when you add a bit of wind to this magnificent course.
I decided to follow the 12.36pm group of Australian Adam Scott, American David Duval and Englishman Nick Dougherty as they set to attempt to conquer this Ailsa course.
Dougherty (even) led the two other golfers (+1) after the first round, but all three knew that a decent round today would mean a chance to stay for the whole weekend and of course put them in contention for the championship as a whole.
Duval opened up with a birdie to get his round going in the right direction but then a double on the 2nd put him under a dark cloud.
Conditions became more blustery around the turn and he really struggled with his accuracy off the tee especially on 8 where an errant tee shot led to a double bogey, his second of the day… but not his last as a double bogey on 14 and two small missed putts on 17 and 18 left him at 7 over and out of the weekend.
Adam Scott had no problem finding the fairways, but his problems came with his irons, as he consistently missed the green, sometimes unfortunately like on the par-4 14th where having missed the fairway he played a fantastic long iron into the green only to get a nasty bounce into the sand.
A missed birdie chance on the par-5 17th meant that he finished with a round of 4 over and a tournament round of 5 over meaning he is right around the cut mark.
The big success story was Dougherty, followed faithfully around the course by his better half who cheered on his every shot he can be extremely pleased by his level par round of 70.
Willing to keep his shots low and under the wind and putting quite superbly his only real blemish was an errant tee shot on 5 which led to a double bogey 6 on 5 and having put his tee shot in a faiway bunker on 16 had to chip it out 20 feet sideways which led to another dropped shot.
But three birdies on 6, 10 and 14 thanks to two huge putts and one magnificent iron approach meant that a level par round in the blustery and occasionally wet conditions means he will be in the top 20 going into round 3.
Conditions on the course really were tough, the first ten holes played by the coast are mainly into the wind and you then get a slight rest on 13 and 14 when you are the course’s lowest point before the wind comes into play again for the closing holes.
The wind was strong today but it could get much stronger over the weekend and if that happens level par could win the championship.
The final word must go to the organiser and officals, each group are followed by an eight strong group of scorers, marshalls and the like, and that doesn’t even start to include the spotters, scoreboard attendants and security that are dotted around on each of the holes.
They keep fans and players happy and there must not be many sporting championships where you can get as close to the action as at an Open championship.
