Far from being “too easy” as many had feared a day after players were driving greens with impunity, the less celebrated back nine at Royal Aberdeen took revenge on Friday and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open became an ordeal for its stellar field.
The flotilla of oil supply boats bobbing on the North Sea off Balgownie looked a little like some sort of landing force for an invasion in the sunshine, and the field responded to the threat by going in full retreat as the south east wind led the assault, turning 180 degrees from the previous day’s direction.
There were casualties aplenty, and left holding a beach head are leader Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina, out in the penultimate group of the day and finishing on six-under, tied with the soft-spoken Swede Kris Broberg and Scotland’s Marc Warren.
Rory McIlroy, so impressive in leading on Thursday, had another one Flat Friday and fell all the way back to level par with a dreadful 78.
Rory was the most prominent casualty, but certainly not the only one. Of the top names only Justin Rose, playing earlier in the day, managed to negotiate the back nine without damage and was rewarded by seeing the field come back to him to lie just one off the lead going to the weekend.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson is not out of it either on one-under, but was moved to concern after a 73 that the battle, while “a fun challenge”, was a little too gruelling for the field considering the important business of next week’s Open.
Rory, meanwhile, was just hoping that his Friday at Hoylake isn’t anything like this one.
“It’s becoming a story and the more people talk about it the more I maybe think about it and put pressure on myself,” he said in reference to the succession of poor second rounds to follow good first ones.
He admitted he hadn’t played well, struggling to cope with his first look at the wind off the left on the back nine, which he hadn’t seen in practice after all, he’d just had one practice round, Wednesday’s pro-am.
“It’s definitely the tougher wind to play this course in,” he said. “On the front nine you’re in the dunes and sheltered a little, but the back nine’s on that plateau and you’re more exposed.
“I hadn’t played that wind and at least I have now and can adapt, but I didn’t play well. Two-over to the turn wasn’t a disaster, but it just got away from me on the back nine.”
Still optimistic though, Rory pointed out that he is only two off the top ten.
“I’ve seen this wind now and playing more like I did on Thursday can get me right back into it,” he said.
Warren wasn’t immune to the problems on the back nine, and standing on the 16th tee was thinking a par-par-par finish would be decent. Instead he birdied two of them for a 69, and a share of the lead at six-under.
“I said to my caddie after bogeying 14 and 15 that I needed a strong finish, and I was thinking level par was that in those conditions,” he said. “To play it in two-under was beyond my wildest dreams.
“It’s right up there with my best rounds of links golf. As much as anything, realising that a couple of dropped shots wasn’t a disaster.”
Adapting to the huge difference in the wind to Thursday was another key.
“The 13th, I hit three iron and lob wedge yesterday, driver and four iron today,” Warren added. “And it’s a small green, so I was delighted to be on the middle in two. A 69 today feels like something in the mid to low 60s.”
Warren has been through disappointment in this event, and the BMW PGA last year, not to count any chickens.
He added: “I’m definitely among the contenders but I don’t know about favourite, no-one is favourite when we’ve got two rounds to go on this golf course.
“I’m just delighted to be where I am over two rounds.”
Broberg might have led on his own but for a bogey at the last, but the Swede didn’t blink despite a double bogey six on the 14th and his 71 to mark time moved him up a place.
Gonzalez might have been expected join the retreat but to his credit and helped by the wind dying a little he played the back nine in straight pars until making a mess of the last, taking double bogey with a penalty drop to fall into a share of first.
Rose, meanwhile, made much greater ground with his 68, slotting nicely into fourth on his own, just a shot back, but used his playing partners as a guide.
“I followed Stephen (Gallacher) and Lee (Westwood) a little bit because they’d played the course in this wind,” he said.
“It was completely the opposite to yesterday and I thought that was tough, even though other guys plainly didn’t. But it show why if you had one course to play for the rest of your life you’d pick a links like this because it can be different every day.”
Mickelson had been going steadily at three-under until he hit into the gorse at 16 off the tee, a ball that will never be found until that expanse of thorns is levelled.
Of his compatriots, Rickie Fowler toughed out a par 71 in the morning wave while Jimmy Walker’s one-under 70 has him in for the weekend well placed.