Dustin Johnson holed a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to take a one-stroke lead over Danny Willett of England after a two-day second round in the weather-plagued 144th Open Championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland.
One day after torrential rain delayed play for more than three hours, Johnson and 41 other players returned to the course to finish the second round, but winds that gusted to 40 mph halted play again for several hours before the second round finally was finished.
That pushed the third round to Sunday and means the oldest championship in the world will have a Monday finish for the first time since Seve Ballesteros of Spain won at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 1998.
“The wind affected every aspect of the game,” said Johnson, who posted a three-under-par 69 to back up his opening 65. “It was difficult to drive because of the crosswind and difficult to judge the distance to get the ball close to the hole and putting was very difficult. Everything was a challenge.
“We were sitting around a lot, but I’m staying close at the Old Course Hotel and didn’t have to spend a lot of time in the clubhouse. I got in a couple of workouts and spent the rest of the time in my room.”
“It was their call to start in the morning, but I didn’t understand why they stopped us because the conditions were the same as they were when we started.”
Willett, a two-time winner on the European Tour, didn’t hit a shot on Saturday after recording a 69 on Friday after the rain delay.
Paul Lawrie of Scotland, who won the 1999 Open at Carnoustie in a playoff after Jean Van De Velde of France self-destructed on the 72nd hole, also was caught in the late finish and posted a 70 that left him two strokes back in third.
Adam Scott of Australia, the 2013 Masters champion, shot 67 and was three strokes behind in a tie for fifth with Marc Warren (69) of Scotland, Zach Johnson (71), Robert Streb (71), Jason Day (71) of Australia and Louis Oosthuizen (70) of South Africa, who won the Open in 2010 at St. Andrews.
Amateur Paul Dunne of Ireland shot a second 69 and was four shots back in a tie for 10th with Luke Donald (70) of England, Retief Goosen (72) of South Africa and Hideki Matsyama (66) of Japan.
Phil Mickelson shot 72 and was tied for 38th, while Tiger Woods, who has won the Open Championship twice at St. Andrews, finished at 76-75–151 and missed the cut by seven strokes, the first time in his career that he has missed the last two rounds in consecutive majors.
