No-one has ever defended the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, but Justin Rose aims to be the first and is in the right place going into what should be a testing weekend.
So far over two days we’ve had largely a gentle and relaxing time atop Gullane Hill, with benign weather, greens rolling slowly but true and birdies by the fistful. The only thing to slightly discomfort the field was a bit of rain yesterday morning and a sudden isolated gust of wind that sprung up for half an hour in the afternoon and promptly died away again.
Thus the lead score is 11-under at the halfway point and the cut fell at two-under. The weather promised for yesterday is due to arrive today, a stronger wind gusting up to 25 mph, which should separate the bunched field chasing surprise leader Daniel Brooks.
Three behind the Englishman are a group of six players including Rose, and fellow heavy hitters Graeme McDowell, American Ryan Palmer and Shane Lowry, the consistent Irishman who it seems just about everybody in the western world has an each way bet on for next week at St Andrews.
Rose is the choice man with another 66 yesterday, his form apparently slotting in perfectly ahead of the Open, and he was able to withstand a few uncomfortable moments yesterday, not least when his drive at the 16th injured a spectator.
Rose certainly looked a little shaken by the incident where his ball hit a spectator square on the head, drawing blood, which caused another spectator to faint.
It was a chaotic scene for a while with the clearly troubled champion on his haunches, cap pushed back on his head, speaking to the man who while obviously stunned remained in reasonable fettle.
“He took it incredibly well,” said Rose. “It’s never a nice feeling. You can’t see down the left side of that hole but I did see my ball jump in the air and I was hoping it hit a stake out there, because it wasn’t hitting anything soft.
“I saw him on the ground resting but he was able to talk to me and that was reassuring, Said he’d been coming to watch golf for years and years and never been hit.”
Playing partner Phil Mickelson came over to give his apologies and say “it wasn’t me this time” and both emptied their bags of souvenirs, although the third member of the group Marc Warren quipped “more golf balls was probably the last thing the gentleman wanted to see”.
Two more 66s would just about take him to the title, Rose agrees.
“If it gets a little windy, which someone just said to me it might, I think that would do it,” he said. “You go forward every day, that’s the key and it’s what I did last year.
“I’m enjoying the course. From down the hill, it looks like it’s just going to be up and back but there’s some really good holes.
“I think the wind will be fun to play on this course. It’s pretty straightforward off the tee so a breeze will really challenge the iron player.”
Lowry also completed two 66s and says he actually prefers parkland golf, but he looks so impressive every time on the links.
“It’s a very fair golf course, I liked it immediately,” he said. “Things have been going well for me lately but everyone knows that the game can be tough at times, so you need to enjoy these times.
“I think I’ve matured in life and also on the course recently, that’s the difference really.”
McDowell also doubled up on 66s with a strong finish, but there are a number of dangerous names still well placed going into the weekend.
Tommy Fleetwood at -7 is one, with the favourd stat about next week being that he is -26 for his last four rounds on the Old Course. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul Lawrie are on six-under, as is the another former Scottish Open champion Gregory Havret, and two more Americans in Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar.
In truth, anything more than 68 on Gullane yesterday wasn’t getting the job done. Mickelson, who seemed to be leaning towards a weekend of practice up at St Andrews rather than sticking around here, picked up a trio of late birdies to make the weekend comfortably.
No such luck for first round leader Thorbjorn Olesen, who despite perhaps even easier conditions than he had for his first round 63 shot a dispiriting 77 and missed the cut. Falling off a camel was less painful.