By V.Krishnawamy,IANS,
St. Andrews (Scotland) : Two golfers with second names that put the spelling skills of golf writers to test held the spotlight Friday morning, when the wind and weather conditions were at their nastiest best at the St. Andrews.
Louis Oosthuizen, whose mention worthy achievement linked to a Major was the win at the par-3 contest preceding the main Championships at Augusta Masters this year, and Mark Calcavecchia, winner at the Open in 1989, and just past his 50th birthday, and, shot a creditable 67 each.
Oosthuizen held the lead at 12-under, while Calcavecchia was next best in the clubhouse at seven-under, a full five shots behind.
In between Rory McIlroy, nine-under overnight, had parred the first three holes before the conditions deteriorated to the extent that play had to be suspended due to winds exceeding 30 miles an hour even as the sun peeped from behind the clouds.
Youth may have its standard bearer in McIlroy, who set out only later in the afternoon when the wind picked up at St. Andrews on Friday, but carrying on the tradition of the ‘Golden Oldies’ making an early splash at the Open was the 1989 champion Calcavecchia.
The first to first to tee off this morning at 6.30am, Calcavecchia despite the grey weather found his moment in the sun with a round of 67 that ensured the “Fifty-plus” gang still has a lot to talk about the Opens.
At the other end of the spectrum, McIlroy, at 21, is looking to become the youngest winner of The Open Championship since Willie Auchterlonie in 1893.
However it was not Calcavecchia, who held the lead, though he was second in the clubhouse at seven-under.
The lead passed into the hands of the South African Oosthuizen, who dislodged McIlroy for the first time since the latter’s splendid charge on the back nine last night – five birdies in first six holes of the second stretch.
Calcavecchia, who has been in the first group in the morning in at least one of the rounds in last five British Opens said: “The R&A is nice enough to know that I like to play fast and they certainly know I’m not going to hold anybody up. But that was the first time I actually hit it first. So yeah, that’s pretty cool.”
Calcavecchia is following in the footsteps of the then 53-year-old Greg Norman, who held the spotlight at Birkdale in 2008 and then the then 59-year-old Tom Watson who almost won the Claret Jug before losing the play-off last year.
Oosty – thank god for the nicknames – birdied the 18th hole round off with a 67 after his first round 65 that set a decent clubhouse target at 12-under 132, which was three shot ahead of McIlroy.
Oosthuizen, who has made the cut only once in his previous eight Major appearances, grabbed the lead with three straight birdies beginning at the par-5 fifth hole. Another one at the tenth saw him at 11-under, but then he alternated between bogey and birdie from 11th to the 14th. A final birdie at No. 18 saw him finish at 12-under.
McIlroy, who comes on later in the afternoon knows that there is seldom anymore difficult than following a low round in a Major with another one, but he has done that on the PGA Tour at Quail Hollow, where he bounced from cutline to title on the weekend.
Back to Calcavecchia, he started the day at a modest two-under and went through a bogey-free five-under 67 that included two-under front nine in some pretty nasty weather.
Oosthuizen, widely considered an Ernie Els protégé, endured highly unpredictable weather in the morning. He had seven birdies, including three in a row from the fifth, against two bogeys. The birdies came just when the rain started coming down.
Oosthuizen has not had much success in Majors – he missed cuts in seven of the previous eight appearances – but this year apart from his maiden European Tour win in Andalucia, he also won the par-3 competition, which precedes the Augusta Masters.
American Ricky Barnes, once seen as a contender to Tiger Woods, climbed a mountain with a four-under front nine and zoomed from four-under to eight-under. Then he came down on the other side of the mountain with a 39 that saw him finish the day at five-under with a 71.
England’s Paul Casey battling a bad chest infection went through the front nine in 31 and then stayed there at eight-under till the 17th tee. A triple at 17th set him back badly, but he did make up one with a birdie on 18th to finish at six-under 138, the same as Lee Westwood (71), who had one birdie on the fifth and 17 pars.