Some thanks for the player who saved the Open

Brooks Koepka, the young American, played the role of chief mutineer refusing to putt after the Open had sent the pros on to the Old Course despite 45mph winds making balls blow around on the greens like marbles in a bathtub.

Driving rain on Friday meant that some of the second round had to be carried into Saturday, and when play resumed it was suspended again shortly afterwards with players complaining that 40mph winds had made conditions ridiculous.

“It’s unfortunate some guys had to play three holes and I’m only hitting one putt but we never should have started”. The people who run golf on this side of the pond somehow couldn’t figure out that it’s a game that can’t be played if there’s no way to put a ball on a green and stop it from being blown away in the howling wind. “I’ve never seen a ball shake like that so hard trying to get out of the little indentation it was in, and obviously you can’t move it”. The memory, however, might be as good as winning for the 28-year-old who had previously said just qualifying for his first major was “a dream”.

“I just said I don’t want to play anymore”, Koepka said.

After an extended wait, a second opinion from another rules official and a similar incident on the 13 green involving Louis Oosthuizen officials halted play.

Finally, he took a stand.

While Australia’s Jason Day battled through the raging winds, he said it might have been a different story if he had known of Koepka’s protest.

Once he got there, four consecutive birdies gave the mini-tour player from Australia a chance to keep playing in his first major championship. “I wouldn’t say a hurricane, because I think that’s a bit extreme, but it resembled a tropical storm”. “I make double-bogey on the one hole that I play and I miss the cut by two shots”, said Hend after his round. “Because they didn’t have to hit a shot”.